The Edge
by Narumi Jung
Summary: She promised herself she would fight until she had no more strength, she vowed to never lose hope even in the darkest times, but tonight she was about to give up. She was too close to breaking, she could taste her death in the air, she knew she was standing on the edge of her life and just tonight, she needed someone to save her.
1. Run

**Hello there! After reading SK fanfictions for as long as I can remember, I got inspired to wirte one and decided to give it a shot. It's my first fanfiction ever so be nice, reviews are appreciated and I'll be updating every Saturday, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, I will only say this once.**

 **[Warning: This story addresses the issues of slavery, rape, torture and violence in general. This does not mean I support any of these acts and if you're sensitive, do not read. It will also contain swearing and mature content in the future chapters.]**

* * *

 **Chapter One - Run**

She had never been this close to death.

She could feel it everywhere, it was slowly approaching her like a wild animal hunting down its prey. Every step she took brought her close to her ending, her heart was beating faster and faster as she dodged the trees and everything else that stood in her way.

She wanted to stop running.

Honestly, she was going to die anyway so what was the point in tiring her body even more?

Her steps were faltering, she fought to breathe as she jumped over a rock and almost tripped because her legs were too weak to keep her steady. She was ready to give up as she noticed that the forest was slowly coming to an end and there would be nowhere else to hide in a while, she was sure they would get her right after she arrived on the main road, her life was over.

She just wanted to lie down and wait for her dismiss, even if she managed to escape, where would she go? She had no family, her clothes were dirty and torn, she doubted anyone in a village would take pity and help her if she managed to stay alive long enough to reach a village obviously. She doubted she would, it was getting harder and harder to move, she couldn't feel her legs anymore and she wondered how long it would take before she collapsed on the ground and they came for her.

A raspy breath brought her back to reality and she dodged another branch that threatened to hit her face as she ran, she couldn't give up, not if giving up meant he would die too. She had risked way too much already, there was no going back now and she would make sure he was safe before the slender fingers of death were wrapped around her throat and destroyed what was left of her will to live.

Hugging the little kitsune youkai closer to her body, she reminded herself that she was doing this for him. She wouldn't have minded if Onigumo tortured her to death, it would actually be a favor he was doing to her, but threatening the kit's life was where she drew the line. The child had seen his parents be brutally murdered by one of Onigumo's soldiers, then he was thrown into the same cell as her to recover for a while and after this, he was forced to work for the man who killed his family.

Kagome herself suffered a similar fate so she couldn't help but take care of the young kitsune as she wished someone would've done with her when she was introduced to the cruel reality that slavery was. In a short period of time, she grew attached to the little youkai and he was the only source of joy in her life for a long time, the only thing that kept her going and made her turn away from the idea of killing herself to escape the prison she found herself in.

She went as far as taking the punishments for him when he couldn't reach the expectation of their master, that was how much he meant to her, but today Onigumo was way too touchy and left her no choice. She could usually convince him to torture her instead of Shippo since he was only a kid and her master took some kind of sickened pleasure in watching her suffer but this time she failed. Shippo had a fever and couldn't work, her master then decided that keeping the kitsune alive wasn't worth it anymore and tried to kill him.

Kagome didn't think when she saw the devil incarnate reaching for the kit she had come to treat as her own son with a knife on his hand and a murderous glint in his eyes, she snapped. In a moment he was trying to kill the kit, which slept oblivious to the dangers outside, and in the next second Kagome had a torch in her hands and Onigumo laid on the floor with a pool of blood around his head. She didn't have time to think, as soon as she heard the commotion outside caused by the sound of her master's scream, she picked Shippo off the ground and decided to put an end to this.

She wasn't going to stay alive for too long if the soldiers saw what she did so she might as well try to escape with a grand finale. Setting her master's clothes on fire, she held the young youkai closer to her body and started to run like a mad woman, pushing everyone out of her way and either setting their clothes on fire or hitting them with the torch if they tried to stop her.

She managed to escape the abandoned castle that way and now, she didn't know for how long she had been running. It might as well be for hours since she couldn't properly feel her arms and legs anymore and it was getting harder to keep her eyes focused on the hill in front of her. The woods now stood far behind her as she ran with more ease because there were no more trees or rocks to try to knock her down, instead, the path around her had nothing more than colorful flowers and she would probably have appreciated the view if she wasn't so busy trying to not to die.

Her vision darkened around the edges and Kagome found it difficult to think clearly, it was then that she tripped over something and fell on her back, her body aching in pain from the impact and her vision becoming completely taken by the darkness.

''Lady, are you okay? Rin is sorry for being in your way," Kagome heard the squeaky voice of a girl as she felt tiny hands brushing her bangs out of her face. ''Sesshoumaru-sama! Please help Rin!" The same voice screamed at the top of her lungs and the woman cringed, it was way too loud for her fragile body deal with.

The black spots started to fade away as the stars in the dark blue sky came into view and Kagome wondered if this would be the last time she would see the moon, this thought suddenly making her eyes widen as she heard the yells of the soldiers coming closer.

Quickly getting up and ignoring the dizziness that took over her body, the woman looked at the way she came and her heart started beating faster in fear when she saw at least twenty soldiers running towards her, a murderous look glued to each face.

Realizing that now she not only had the kitsune to take care of but a little girl too, Kagome acted fast. Giving the little youkai to the young girl, the woman held her chubby face in her hands and whispered.

''They are coming for me, you must run. Please take my son away, I beg you to save him!"

Rin looked at the woman with bright blue eyes in front of her confused. It was clear that she needed help, her kimono was all torn, she looked unhealthily pale and thin and her hands were way too cold, a clear sign of sickness.

''Lady, you're not well.'' The little girl frowned and Kagome managed to smile slightly despite the fear that was taking over her body.

''I know honey, but I need you to run away right now or else you'll die too and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. Please tell my son that I love him and did all this to see him happy and free,'' Kagome spoke as she turned to look at the woods and saw that they were almost reaching her, if the girl didn't run now she wouldn't be able to escape. ''Run, please, let me save at least someone so I can die feeling that my life was not wasted!" The woman screamed as she pushed the girl, trying to make her move but with no avail.

Rin noticed the angry men right behind the nice woman and her heart clenched in pain when she noticed that her fingers were shaking in fear, she couldn't let the Lady die there. Taking a small step back and holding the older woman's hand, Rin smiled as she hugged the kitsune closer to her tiny body and took a deep breath, the woman's despair growing as she noticed that the girl wouldn't obey her anytime soon.

Before Kagome could tell her to run again, Rin opened her mouth and let out an earth-shattering scream that made the older woman's eyes widen in surprise. ''Sesshoumaru-sama!''

As if the name was the answer to all of her problems, something that looked awfully a lot like lighting to Kagome struck down the ground in front of her, making the wind blow her hair violently. For a while, the woman saw absolutely nothing and considered blindly running away since the distraction was good enough to give her some seconds of advantage and maybe make her able to escape alive.

She wasn't quick enough though and as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the last thing she expected to see, a daiyoukai. Kagome froze in place as his golden eyes stared right into hers, narrowing a little and making the woman stop breathing because she hadn't seen anyone that looked so deadly in a long time.

He had two magenta stripes on each cheek, a crescent moon on his forehead, his skin was snow white pale and his hair was the purest silver color she ever saw. She didn't even need to mention anything about his towering height or the fact that he had two swords on his hip, she had no doubt he could kill her in a blink of the eyes.

Kagome was lost, she didn't know who she should fear, the soldiers that wanted her head or this demon that appeared out of the blue. Honestly, he looked way more dangerous than Onigumo's men but when she saw him glancing at the girl that let her hand go and now held his, she realized that he wouldn't kill her.

Not right now, at least.

''Sesshoumaru-sama! These bad guys threatened Rin and they want to kill the nice Lady who tried to help me to run away from them!" The innocent girl said as she made a scared face, making Kagome's eyes widen in surprise at her lie.

This little human girl just lied with a straight face to a youkai, Kagome simply couldn't believe it. Said youkai narrowed his eyes at the girl before he flexed his claws, gently pulling his hand away from Rin's grasp and turning to look at the soldiers, who were frozen in place at the sight of their unexpected visitor.

The little girl winked at Kagome before she held the woman's hands in hers. ''Don't worry nice Lady, Sesshoumaru-sama is the strongest inuyoukai in this world, he'll keep us safe!" She said with such conviction and trust that Kagome had no choice but to believe in her as she stared at her savior's back, noticing the fluffy thing that was wrapped over his shoulder and wondering what it was.

A tension filled silence took over the place and after a while, the general snapped. ''Get out of our way demon! You're obviously outnumbered so give us the woman and the brat or die while trying to protect them!"

Silently assuming that the brat was Rin, Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed before his mouth twitched up a little, making some soldiers freeze in place at the terrifying sight of the smirking demon. The general was not surprised though and scowled at the annoying creature that stood in their way. ''Move demon, we do not have time to waste!"

Kagome didn't know the little girl, much less the daiyoukai, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't be the one dying. Squeezing the girl's hand, Kagome gave Shippo's head a pat and moved them back a little, realizing that the youkai would act soon.

The woman was right, Sesshoumaru-sama, as the girl called him, was standing in front of her a second ago and suddenly he was facing the general. Eyes widening in surprise, the man ordered his soldiers to attack Rin's Lord and Kagome watched in awe the scene that played right in front of her eyes.

The silver haired inu was probably the most deadly creature she had ever laid her eyes on, he moved with such ease and grace that made Kagome envy him for a minute. A green line that looked like a whip flowed from his fingers as he swiftly killed the ones that tried to attack him, he had killed at least seven soldiers and none of them managed to get close enough to hurt him.

The general gritted his teeth as he glared at the demon and looked at his men, silently telling them to get the girl and her stupid kit as he himself would take care of the annoyance. His life was on the line, he had to get the girl and avenge his master, there was no room for mistakes and he wouldn't lose his life because the warriors were cowards.

''It seems that my men are incapable of dealing with a stupid nuisance so I'll have to do it myself and punish them later.'' He said as he charged at the demon with his sword.

Rin cringed when she heard her Lord be insulted and realized that the bad man wouldn't stand for too long if there was a thing he didn't tolerate, it were insults to his mighty self.

The general's blade met air as the demon easily dodged his pitiful attacks, when the human charged at him again, Sesshoumaru held the blade in his hand and let the poison drip from his claws, easily melting the metal and destroying the weapon.

Meanwhile, Kagome was slowly backing down and pulling Rin with her as the other men charged against them, spears on their hands and cruel smiles on their faces. When they got way too close for comfort, Kagome picked Rin up and was about to run with what was left of her energy to find a safe place to hide the girl and her son when a silver blur appeared in front of her.

The daiyoukai's silver hair looked even silkier up close and Kagome felt tempted to run her fingers through it, she wasn't going to live for much longer so she might as well fulfill one of her last wishes.

''I advise you to step back, human, unless you wish to die too.'' The demon's deep voice made Kagome's eyes widen in surprise and do what he wanted, giving up on the idea of trying to touch his hair, she had no doubt he would kill her slowly for doing that.

It was only then that the blue eyed girl noticed he had his hand wrapped around a sword and the general now laid in a pool of blood on the other side of the field.

''Close your eyes.'' The little girl's voice caught Kagome's attention and before the woman could ask why, it happened.

With a graceful movement of his arm, the youkai's sword sent a blast of energy in the warriors' direction, making Kagome's eyes widen in surprise when the bright light faded out and there was no trace of the humans left.

''I told you Sesshoumaru-sama would save us!'' Rin smiled happily at Kagome, making the woman put her down as she stared at the demon in shock, still trying to understand what happened.

Onigumo's men were dead, no one lived to talk about what happened and to where Kagome ran away, she was safe.

She escaped alive, she was free.

When this information suddenly made sense to her, it was like a switch had been turned on and she started to feel everything again. Her head ached badly, her hands trembled, she was hungry, it was getting harder and harder to breathe and her vision was starting to fade away.

''Rin,'' Kagome said softly as her whole body went numb. ''Please take care of Shippo and thank the daiyoukai for me.''

''What's wrong, Lady?'' The little girl asked at the woman's weird request, she was fine, no one would hurt her so why she was speaking like she was going to die?

''I-'' Kagome struggled to form words in her brain as the world around her faded completely. ''I think I'm going to faint.''


	2. Breathe

**Chapter Two – Breathe**

Her body hurt like there were a thousand swords stabbing her at the same time, that was the first thing Kagome realized when she started to regain her consciousness.

She could hear the commotion around her, she could feel herself holding onto something, hands were touching her all the time and making it impossible for the woman to go back to sleep. She was tired for Kami's sake, she just wanted to sleep until her body was numb again and she didn't feel the pain that was getting harder and harder to deal with as every second passed by, it wasn't like she was asking to be the next supreme ruler of the universe or anything impossible like that.

Slowly, she started to understand what they were speaking, though the random words didn't make sense to her confused brain yet.

''We…wake her…or else…vital signs…''

''Fragile…won't make…dead…''

''Please…Lady…helped me…''

Nope, nothing made sense to her and Kagome decided to just focus on her heartbeat instead, it was weak and she could barely hear it, which made her wonder what was happening with her.

''Fever…there's no hope…will die…''

''Save her…son will be alone…''

Kagome frowned as she heard this and forced herself to pay attention to the hushed voices again, she could swear she knew who they were talking about.

''The human won't make it, her body is way too fragile. I can't do anything for her.'' This time, Kagome recognized the voice, it was a female speaking.

''You must save her, what we'll do with her son if she's gone?!" A girly voice that seemed on the brink of a breakdown screamed, making the miko frown as she ignored a sharp pain on her chest and focused on the conversation again.

''There is no hope for her Rin, I can't try to light a fire on her life again when she can't even breathe properly, her body won't hold my powers, it will only kill her faster.'' The female spoke again and Kagome's headache suddenly became unbearable, it was like someone decided to see how much damage a brain could hold before it stopped working and started hitting her head with an ax until it simply exploded.

It was then that Kagome realized, they were talking about her. The revelation made the miko's eyes twitch in annoyance, what the hell they were blabbing about? Light a fire in her life again? What in Kami's sake did that mean?

The thing she was holding onto pulsed, making Kagome tighten her grip on it as she tried to open her eyes but the only thing she saw was a bright darkness. That didn't even make sense to her but it wasn't like her brain was properly functioning and that was proven by the fact that when she opened her hand to see what she was holding onto, she saw a small pink ball.

Kagome didn't really try to understand what was happening by this point, she was far too annoyed by the fact that someone had just said she had no hope. Who they thought they were to say something like that? Her consciousness was fine, they didn't have the right to choose if she would live or die and she wanted to tell them to leave her alone.

Her temper flared and she felt a pulse of energy coming from inside her body, it was weak and barely there but she felt it. She tried to focus on it and the small pink thing she held was now humming with power, sending chills down her spine and making the pulse of energy she felt stronger.

''What-What's happening?!" She could hear the same female that said she would die speaking, her voice making Kagome even more annoyed.

''Step back.'' A male voice said, his tone leaving no room for argument and Kagome's eyes widened as she struggled to breathe, her throat burned and she gasped for air.

A bright pink light quickly took over the darkness that surrounded her until it engulfed her whole body, making the woman stop breathing and the pink sphere in her hand suddenly exploded, millions of shiny fragments falling down around her as she suddenly sat on the bed, gasping for air as the world around her finally reappeared.

* * *

For the first time in his life, the proud and deadly Lord of the West didn't know what to do.

Looking between his ward that was about to have a mental breakdown, his most skilled healer that just said she didn't know how to heal a human and said human girl that laid in a bed and was slowly dying, Sesshoumaru realized that he really didn't know how to proceed in this situation.

He tried calming Rin down but the little human refused to listen to him. When Sakura, his official healer, said she couldn't do anything to save the human, Rin snapped. She demanded a solution and acted like a scary and small female version of himself, sending everyone who was useless away and shouting every once in a while to get things done.

Her orders made the human girl survive for more than a week but right now there was nothing left to be done and his ward was slowly turning into a crying mess. Sesshoumaru honestly didn't understand why she was so focused on saving the human, she didn't know the girl, she could be an assassin for all they knew but still, Rin wanted her to live.

After he had killed the humans that threatened his pack, he was going to scold Rin for straying too far away from him while chasing butterflies and collecting flowers, this almost had her killed twice and he couldn't afford another mistake, but then the human woman fainted.

He didn't care about her though, he was going to get Rin and go somewhere safe but his ward was one of the most stubborn creatures he ever met and she refused to move until he promised he would bring the human with them. Sesshoumaru didn't even mention anything about the kitsune Rin held onto until they arrived in the castle and she explained that he was the human's son.

That was just absurd in the inuyoukai's opinion, humans were too prejudiced to take care of anything that threatened them, there was no way the human had adopted the kitsune youkai. The state of her body and clothes also made him wonder how she managed to take care of the kit, it was obvious to anyone that she didn't have a home and the fact that the kit was in better shape than the human made Sesshoumaru wonder if she gave what little food she managed to acquire to him.

''We're losing her.'' Sakura's quiet voice brought the Lord of the Western Lands out of his musings and he watched as her bright green eyes saddened at the sound of Rin's cries.

''We can't lose her! What we'll do with her son?'' The little girl shouted in annoyance as tears ran down her cheeks. ''He'll be all alone like Rin was when mama and papa died…'' She sobbed in a broken voice that was capable of making even the high and mighty Sesshoumaru-sama's heart break.

Not that he had a heart, of course.

Said statement was proven by the fact that the only reaction the daiyoukai had was to lift an eyebrow and look at Sakura, silently telling her to solve the issue.

''I can't try to use my powers on her, she would die faster if I tried my Lord, there's nothing I can do now.'' The youkai said, her eyes saddening as she obviously felt guilty for not being able to save the human.

Sakura had an old and sensible soul, having lived more than anyone else in the castle beside him and it was exactly because of that that she was chosen to be the official healer. She dedicated her life to healing when she saw her mother die of an unknown sickness, which was a rare event since diseases almost never affected youkai.

Rin let out another heartbreaking scream and Sesshoumaru tried to push away the sensation of discomfort he felt as he watched his ward suffer and hug the body of the woman, which now looked paler than ever. He could hear it, her heartbeat was slowing down and she was struggling to breathe as each second passed by, she had no more than a minute left.

The scent of Rin's tears disturbed him, the fact that Sakura was also crying made the Western Lord feel awkward, he never knew what to do when he saw females and kids crying. Sesshoumaru was about to consider using Tenseiga on the human girl just to make the two crying females stop when he noticed it.

There was a pink aura surrounding the strange woman's body, he recognized the power and his eyes widened slightly as the human stopped breathing and her aura shone brighter.

''Get away from her, now.'' He ordered Sakura, that quickly backed up as Sesshoumaru held Rin by her kimono and moved to the farthest corner of the room.

A second filled with tension passed by and then the bright pink light exploded, blinding anyone that dared to look directly at it and making Sakura put a barrier around herself as Sesshoumaru did the same. When the light faded, Sesshoumaru heard a gasp and opened his eyes, only to see the human now sitting on the bed as she coughed and looked around with wide eyes.

''The nice Lady is alive!" Rin screamed as she pushed her Lord's hand away and ran to meet the human, sitting on the bed next to her.

The woman was still gasping for air and she had a pained expression as she held her throat with both of her hands, as if her body was burning from inside out.

''Rin, stay away.'' He ordered and after receiving a glare from her ward, she obeyed him and moved back to where he was, a scowl on her chubby face.

Waiting until the pink light faded from the human's body and she laid back on the bed, breathing with more ease now that the pain was starting to fade, Sesshoumaru slowly approached her and took a tentative sniff to confirm what he suspected.

The human was a miko.

Having a human in his shiro was already a problem, even though his people accepted Rin because of her cheerful nature, he doubted they would accept another human with the same grace. Not that he planned to keep her for too long, he just needed her healed so he could send her on her way and have peace again, but that was kind of hard to achieve when you realized that she was a miko in a place full of youkai.

He had no doubt his people would try to kill her, he saw the murderous glint in some of his soldiers' eyes when he walked down the halls with the passed out miko in his arms. This human was more trouble than what she was worth, if it wasn't for the fact that Rin claimed she helped her to escape, the mighty Lord of the West wouldn't even bat an eye at the thought of the miko dying.

In this situation he couldn't leave her though, the human had saved his ward's life, if he let her die he would bring shame and dishonor to his house. Looking at her through a mask that clearly hid his disgust in being a human's babysitter for the time being, the youkai listened to her heartbeat.

She sounded perfectly fine for someone that was on the brink of death a few seconds ago and he was about to tell Sakura to aid the girl when her strangely blue eyes opened and slowly focused on him, leaving him frozen for nothing more than a second.

What made him really freeze in place though was her raised hand that suddenly was petting his hair as if he was a giant puppy and the small sound of awe she made when she played with a few strands that fell next to her face.

''So silky.'' The human muttered, then her hand dropped and she fell into a dreamless sleep, leaving behind a daiyoukai that was too shocked to do anything besides stare at her with wide eyes for a while.


	3. Choose

**Chapter Three - Choose**

''My Lord! Sakura-sama requests your presence in Rin's room!" Jaken's squeaky and annoying voice interrupted his train of thought. If you paid attention you would be able to see Sesshoumaru's eye twitch in annoyance as he gripped the letter he was currently reading just a little bit tighter.

''She says it's urgent, my Lord!" Jaken squeaked again and Sesshoumaru gave up on trying ignoring him. Letting the letter fall from his hand, the daiyoukai got up and glared at the imp who dared to interrupt his peace.

He calmly walked through the halls of his shiro and slid the door of Rin's room open. The first thing he noticed was that the human was finally awake, if you ignored her sudden burst of power, she had been sleeping for two weeks, not once waking to eat or drink anything. That made Sesshoumaru wonder how she was still alive considering that she was human and they needed nourishment more often than youkai, Rin was a clear proof of this. Though the girl never complained she was hungry or tired while traveling with him, he noticed that she would walk slower than usual and be less cheerful if she spent too much time without eating and resting.

The second thing Sesshoumaru noticed was that the human didn't look worse than when he found her, in fact, she looked way too healthy for someone that had been in a small coma and didn't eat a single thing during the whole time. He remembered the feel of her bones when he held her, she was on the brink of death and yet, just sleeping made it look as if that memory of her was nothing but an illusion.

''My Lord, she is finally awake,'' Sakura said as she got up and bowed, while Rin ran and quickly hugged his leg before going back to sit next to the girl.

''Hn, any information worth mentioning?'' He inquired, watching the girl watch him with her bright blue eyes.

''I-I don't know how it happened my Lord, but all her injuries are gone as if they never existed,'' Sakura said, a confused expression on her face. ''Her ribs were broken but now they're not, she had scars and bruises all over her body but they are gone too, not to mention that she gained back enough weight to be considered healthy again.''

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the healer, she looked completely lost and any thoughts about one of her herbs or spells doing this were thrown away. He turned back to face the girl and found that she was still looking at him, though she seemed worried and was biting her lip while she fidgeted in place.

''Leave us.'' He said, making Rin groan as she stared at him. He knew that his ward wanted to protest, but one look at him was enough to make her give up.

''Don't worry nice Lady, Sesshoumaru-sama will probably just ask why you saved me and other unimportant things,'' Rin said, though the way she spoke about being saved seemed somehow forceful to the Lord of the West.

''I'll be back soon!'' With that, the girl left the room as she skipped and dragged a certain brown haired youkai with her.

''Miko,'' Sesshoumaru spoke after a while, breaking the silence that had taken over the room.

''My Lord.'' She answered, getting up and bowing deeply as she stood in front of him.

''Explain.'' Sesshoumaru simply said as the woman kept bowing to him.

''Yes, my Lord.'' She quietly muttered. ''I've been a slave though I can't remember for how long, Onigumo's men found me while I was traveling from a village to another and since they were human, there was only so much I could do to stop them.''

''Shippo, the kit, was brought to the same cell I was after his parents were killed and he was forced into slavery too. I took care of him, I couldn't bear to see someone so young being forced to go through such a rough treatment, my Lord. I went as far as taking the punishments for him, it seemed that Onigumo gained some sort of pleasure in torturing me.'' She was grimacing by now, but he couldn't see it because even though she straightened her posture, she kept her head down.

''You're untouched,'' Sesshoumaru said after a while.

It didn't make sense, if the woman was a slave, they would've probably tried to use her by now. She also took in the kitsune, saying that she took the torture sessions for him but she was a miko, they were supposed to hate youkai and their purpose in life was to exterminate them, so why?

''Ah, yes.'' The miko answered, this time raising her head so he could see the grim expression she had. ''They tried, believe me, right after they brought me to Onigumo. They thought I was only a human woman though, so when my former master tried to force himself on me, I panicked and let out all of my reiki at once.''

Her expression seemed strangely satisfied as she spoke the following events, making Sesshoumaru raise an eyebrow at her. ''I didn't know that there were youkai working for him too, but there were, and a lot of them. They all turned to ashes, there wasn't a single one standing after my reiki faded away, that was enough to make Onigumo and everyone else too scared to ever touch me again.''

''Hn, where is your master now?'' Sesshoumaru asked, carefully eyeing the woman in front of him.

''Hopefully burning in hell,'' She muttered, making the daiyoukai raise an eyebrow at her yet again. ''I was pretty much okay with being tortured you know? If Shippo was fine and no one was trying to rape me, everything was nice.'' She shrugged, looking slightly bored. ''I didn't even mind the torture that much after a while, I got to the point where I learned how to shrink back into my own mind by using a meditation technique I've learned, which meant I didn't see or feel anything until I deemed it was safe enough for me again.''

If Sesshoumaru had a little less control over his feelings, his eyes would have widened in surprise. The way the human spoke about being tortured and forced into slavery as if it was nothing was enough to unsettle him, the fact that she forced her mind to erase the events was shocking, she had been driven to her breaking point and just didn't seem to care.

''But you see, Onigumo was a greedy bastard, he wasn't happy with just torturing his slaves after driving them to work until they passed out. He wanted more, so when Shippo got sick, he decided that it was time to replace him with someone more useful.'' She spoke, her eyes narrowing slightly and somehow Sesshoumaru knew exactly what she was about to say.

''I didn't think, when I saw his blade inching closer to my son's neck, I simply snapped. The next thing I knew was that Onigumo was lying on the floor, his head bleeding, I had a torch on my hand and there were people running to my cell.'' She said, looking lost as she tried to remember exactly what happened that day. ''I had about five seconds to act so I picked Shippo from the ground, held him close to my body and put my former master's clothes on fire, as well as the whole cell. After that, I ran while knocking out everyone I saw on my way with the torch I still held.''

Sesshoumaru knew he shouldn't be amused, but the way the woman spoke about her escape was almost comic, she spoke so casually about it that he wondered if she found it funny.

''I don't know for how long I ran, honestly. I could hear the soldiers behind me and I just wanted to give up, there was no way I would be able to escape them all and the only thing that kept me going was my son.'' She said as she stared at the daiyoukai's eyes. ''I don't really know what Rin-sama told you my Lord, but I have an idea, please don't blame her for lying on my behalf, she just wanted to help.''

''Speak the truth,'' Sesshoumaru said, he knew his ward had been hiding something from him but she didn't give him the time to think about it when there were a dozen humans trying to kill her.

''I was running and didn't really pay attention to my surrounding so I, uh, tripped on her.'' The miko said, looking slightly embarrassed. ''I think she was kneeling down and looking at the flowers, it was hard to see because it was dark so…''

Raising an eyebrow at her expression, Sesshoumaru waited for her to speak again.

''Anyway, I fell and thought I would die, then I saw a human girl shouting and realized that now I not only had a kit to hide from the warriors but a girl too.'' She said, sighing. ''I tried to make her run but she refused, Onigumo's men were getting closer and I gave Shippo to her, then tried to force her to run. I obviously failed and I was running out of ideas when she calmly took my hand and shouted your name, my Lord.''

That was something Rin would do, Sesshoumaru realized. His ward had absolutely no sense when it came to her safety, her blind faith that he would always be there to save her was touching and stupidly dangerous at the same time.

Sesshoumaru welcomed the silence that took over the room while he pondered what he should do with the girl. Rin's irrational attachment to her was an obstacle that would keep him from simply throwing the human away, the fact that she was a miko would be tricky if he decided to keep her and she would most likely suffer assassination attempts from some people in his court.

For the second time in his life, Sesshoumaru didn't know what to do.

''Sesshoumaru-sama! Nice Lady!" The door of the room was suddenly slammed open and a giddy Rin attached herself to her Lord's leg.

A few seconds later, an orange ball of fluff jumped right past him and clung to the miko, who squealed happily and hugged it tightly to her chest.

''Shippo -chan!"

''Mama! I missed you so much and I was so worried when you didn't wake up and-'' The tiny kitsune suddenly started crying, making the woman hug him even more tightly to her body.

''I'm so sorry honey, mama was just resting okay? It had been a while since I could sleep and I needed to recover my energy.'' Kagome soothed him, patting his back softly.

''Please don't leave me too.'' Shippo pleaded weakly, making the girl's heart clench in pain.

''I won't, I promise that wherever I go, you go with me.'' She said as Sakura and Jaken suddenly ran into the room, looking around until they both spotted the little girl attached to their Lord's leg.

''Rin-sama tricked us again!" The imp said as he gasped for air and fell on the floor.

''Please forgive us, Sesshoumaru-sama! We tried to keep her from coming here but she's way too clever for a little human child." Sakura said as she fanned herself and Rin giggled, smiling shamelessly at Sesshoumaru when he raised an eyebrow at her.

''Sorry my Lord,'' The little girl spoke, her eyes shining with mirth. ''I really wanted to see Kagome-sama again and Shippo-chan was worried too.''

''I hope you're behaving, Shippo,'' Kagome said, narrowing her eyes at her son.

''Eh, well, you see mama-'' Said kit started to laugh nervously, looking at Rin and silently asking for help.

''He behaves, though there have been a few minor damages to the shiro whenever he attempts to show Rin-sama a new trick,'' Sakura said, making the miko groan. ''He's a kitsune and a pup though, no one really minds it.''

''What did I say to you about using youki in closed up spaces? The last time you attempted to do it in the cell we almost died!" The miko said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

''Cell?'' Rin asked, frowning. ''Shippo-chan said a bad man had locked you two away from everyone else and you were running from him when we found you, is that true?''

Smiling softly at the girl, Kagome kneeled in front of her and tried to ignore the demon who insisted on watching every single move she made. ''Yes Rin-sama, but he's gone now and we survived thanks to you and your Lord helping us.'' She said, patting the girl's head until she stopped frowning and smiled at her, suddenly tackling Kagome on a hug.

''Will you stay with us, Kagome-chan?'' She suddenly asked, making Kagome flinch for a second.

She had no use to the Western Lord, she might not have recognized him before because of her mental state but now she knew exactly who had saved her. The Killing Perfection had no reason to keep a mortal on his shiro, much less a miko.

The fact that he hadn't killed her yet was surprising, she had heard storied of the merciless Lord of the West, son of the great InuTaisho, and those stories surely didn't involve saving mikos and being nice. She could faintly hear her mentor's words scolding her for believing in all the rumors, after all, the demon did keep a human girl as his ward, which meant he wasn't that bad, right?

''Are you educated, Kagome-sama?'' Sakura suddenly asked, her eyes shining with hope when she saw Kagome nod. ''You said you don't have anywhere else to go, right? We need someone to take care of Rin, I'm sure my Lord would gladly let you stay with us if you could teach her about the human ways, right Sesshoumaru-sama?''

''That's indeed a good idea!" Jaken squeaked, greatly pleased with the idea of not having to babysit Rin anymore. ''Sakura-sama isn't always available to look after the girl and I'm sometimes busy too, Sesshoumaru-sama.''

''It would be a wise decision!" Sakura said, sounding way too eager to be free of the girl. It wasn't that she didn't like Rin, in fact, she loved the girl and the new light she brought to the shiro, but her pranks were hard to deal with and she wasn't always free when Rin wanted to play. ''I do not know much about the human body, I've heard that the females behave in a different way once they reach a certain age, unlike youkai.''

''Please Sesshoumaru-sama! I promise I will behave with Kagome-chan, I won't even prank her like I did with my last teacher!" Rin squealed happily, attaching herself to said daiyoukai's leg again.

Finding himself strangely cornered between his human ward, his healer, and his supposedly loyal servant, Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at them. He could almost taste their excitement in the air and started to consider their suggestion.

Rin did need someone to take care of her, Jaken was usually busy when they were in the shiro and though his men rarely got badly injured, when they got, they kept Sakura busy for weeks and that left Rin to wander alone, something he didn't approve.

Rin also seemed strangely attached to the miko, which would be useful if she started to teach her the general story of Japan and everything else she needed to know. The last time Sesshoumaru tried to find a teacher for the girl, the poor youkai left the room with her once blonde hair dyed green and half of her clothes torn, then she resigned from her position and left the shiro.

Taking one more look at his ward's hopeful expression, Sesshoumaru sighed mentally and nodded his head. ''The miko may stay if she wants.''

Three pairs of eyes suddenly moved to stare at Kagome, who was staring at the daiyoukai with wide eyes. Looking back at Rin's hopeful expression and Sakura's almost pleading one, Kagome smiled softly at them.

''If my Lord allows, I will gladly stay.''


	4. Pranks

**Chapter 4 – Pranks**

Routine had once again made its way to the shiro.

After the news that a miko was going to live there in order to teach Rin about the human lifestyle, most youkai in the place were apprehensive. They knew of the hatred priestesses had for them, the fact that their Lord allowed this was insane and though a few of them went to complain, the only answer they received was that if the miko did anything against them, she would be dealt with.

Weeks passed by and the miko did nothing wrong, not even looked at them in the wrong way, in fact, she was surprisingly friendly and after a while, the residents of the shiro stopped looking behind their backs all the time. She was good and kept Rin in place, the number of pranks had decreased greatly ever since she came around, which made everyone grateful.

Kagome unknowingly gained the respect of some youkai there because of her friendly nature and her control over the small girl's mischievous ways. Sure, now the pranks were more sophisticated because of the help of the kitsune, but being pranked only once a week was better than almost every day.

And so, everyone in the shiro had a new routine, one that did not involve having to be careful as they entered a new room in fear of having mud thrown at their faces as Rin tried to escape from her lessons. All was good in their lives and Sakura couldn't be happier for having the idea of keeping the human around, you could often see her skipping around and smiling brightly whenever she saw the woman.

''Rin-chan!" Kagome's loud voice suddenly made every youkai stop frozen in place, the human rarely raised her voice and when she did, something was bound to happen.

Not wanting to be the newest victim of Rin's mischievous personality, every single youkai in the area vanished to find a place to hide, it was better to be safe than sorry.

''Shippo, I already told you that you have to bath, stop running away from me!" Kagome shouted again as she ran through the halls.

She turned left and was almost reaching them when they took a sharp turn to the right and she cursed mentally, panting because she had to be running for at least ten minutes and she was sure she was lost with all the turns she took while chasing the children.

''I swear to Kami that when I get you two…'' Kagome shouted, letting her threat in the air as she leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.

After resting for no more than ten seconds, the miko started to run again and when she was about to shout, she paused and frowned. Rin and Shippo were frozen in the middle of the hall and when Kagome got closer, her eyes widened in horror as she stared at the scene in front of her.

There, standing right in front of two frightened children, stood the Lord of the West, covered from head to toe in some kind of purple powder. Kagome could do nothing but stare at the scene, her Lord's eyes were slightly narrowed and Shippo had ran to hide behind Rin, who in turn, was doing her best to smile innocently at the daiyoukai.

''Oh Kami,'' Kagome groaned, knowing they would be in trouble. ''What did I tell you two about pranking the others?''

''Everyone's a target?'' Rin said, turning to smile sweetly at the miko.

''Everything is allowed as long as no one dies or gets badly hurt?'' Shippo tried, making Kagome narrow her eyes at him.

''And?'' She asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest and tapping her foot on the floor.

''Um, we can't torture Jaken that much because he might go insane?'' Rin tried again.

''No, I said that you could prank anyone you wanted as long as you two knew said youkai wouldn't try to kill you both,'' Kagome said, sighing. ''And that Sesshoumaru-sama was to be left alone since he is the Lord of the West and has important things to do. Now apologize.''

Pouting and frowning, both kids turned to face the Lord of the West again, who watched the scene with a bored look in his eyes. ''We are very sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama,'' Shippo said, peeking from Rin's back.

''We didn't mean to get you,'' Rin said, smiling shamelessly at her Lord. ''That was meant for Kagome-chan, we even got the powder to smell like her favorite flower so she wouldn't get that mad!''

''Hey!" Kagome said as she glared at them. ''You two were luring me to this place? I can't believe it!''

''If you look at the bright side mama, you escaped!" Shippo said, trying to stifle a giggle as he stared at the now purple inuyoukai.

''Rin, kit.'' Said inuyoukai suddenly spoke, making everyone's eyes widen. ''I believe you both should be bathing.''

Knowing that this was a warning, both children ran away as if their lives depended on that, leaving Kagome alone with a very annoyed demon. Straightening her back and cleaning her throat, the miko looked around, noticing that not even the maids she would usually see were there.

''Um, we should probably get you cleaned.'' She spoke as she felt his intense stare. The silence in the place was awkward and she really couldn't be blamed for feeling nervous in his presence when they were alone, he had been merciful enough to let her and her son stay but she hadn't seen him around frequently.

She could faintly remember seeing his face and touching his hair once he left the room the day she woke up from her slumber, and after panicking at the thought of really doing this, she reasoned that it was probably a strange dream since she could also remember a bright pink light surrounding her as something exploded and there was no way this happened in real life. It was probably the fever getting to her head and making her delirious, Sakura had said that she was burning for a whole week before they managed to make her temperature come back to normal.

In the first days in the shiro, Sakura and Jaken were always around her, making sure she wasn't planning anything fishy and seeing if she was really capable of being Rin's mentor. After a while, they left her alone but Kagome could sometimes feel Sesshoumaru's presence in the place, it was almost like he was constantly staring at her back.

On rare occasions he would join her and the children, sitting in the farthest corner of the room and simply staring at them. Kagome knew he was doing this for Rin's safety, seeing if she was really worth of taking care of his ward, and she couldn't really blame him for that.

Rin was his and he took care of what belonged to him, in a way, he also made sure she was safe, Kagome more than once felt the hateful stares as she walked through the halls and Sesshoumaru's presence calmed her down. Even though she barely saw him, he brought a sense of security that she had long forgotten, Kagome trusted him and somehow knew that nothing would happen to her or her son as long as he was there.

''Hn.'' Sesshoumaru merely said, turning around and walking away.

Not knowing what to do, Kagome chose to follow him, looking at the ground during the whole time because she knew that if she looked at him, she would burst out laughing. The mighty Lord of the Western Lands was covered in purple powder from head to toe and smelling like lilacs, she had to stifle a laugh when she realized how funny the situation was.

Sesshoumaru moved calmly through the halls, and after turning left twice, he opened one of the doors and gracefully stepped into one of the bathing chambers. Kagome quickly moved around to grab a towel and a few small bottles of what Sakura called shampoo. Kagome had never heard of these things before and discovered that the green eyed youkai had created them and was slowly starting to sell them to more people who wanted to take care of their hair properly.

After she gathered her things, Kagome turned around and shrugged when she saw that Sesshoumaru was already in the water, fully clothed. It was a smart move because she was sure the powder would be hard to get off once it had dried completely, his clothes weren't completely ruined but he would have trouble in fixing them.

''Uh, do I need to do anything else?'' Kagome spoke as she put the small bottles on the ground next to the water.

Sesshoumaru slowly stopped washing his face and turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. It took all of Kagome's willpower to keep her from laughing at the sight, his face looked worse now that the powder entered into contact with the water and turned into some kind of paint, making his face look completely purple.

Not daring to open her mouth because she knew she would laugh, Kagome picked the towel and kneeled, motioning for Sesshoumaru to come closer. After a few second of silence and another raised eyebrow, he did what she wanted and she slowly raised her hand to clean his face.

His eyes never left her face and she fought harder to keep herself from laughing, focusing on cleaning all the paint off his face. It ended up being harder than what she thought, Kagome had tried to gently clean him but the paint just wasn't coming off, so she had to resort to brute force and hope she wouldn't die because of this.

She silently cursed Shippo and Rin for putting her in this situation, just what in Kami's sake did they use to create this stupid powder? The thing was horrible to wash away and she was starting to fear having her hand chopped off because she was being too harsh while cleaning the daiyoukai's face.

After a while, she finished cleaning both this face and a part of his neck, silently thanking the Gods for his haori and hakama taking most of the damage. Sighing and then smiling softly, she spoke. ''Well, we're done, now we only need to wash your hair, do you need help?"

Sesshoumaru stood silently as he stared at her, making Kagome fidget in place. Her question was a dumb one, she had noticed that he only had one arm and sometimes wondered what happened, and even though he did everything perfectly fine as if the missing limb didn't matter, she knew he wouldn't be able to wash off the paint from his hair without help.

''Ignore my question and just turn around, will you?'' She sighed as she quietly waited for him do what she asked for. Once he did and she made sure he wasn't going to look at her anymore, she bit her lip and smiled at the thought of touching his hair.

From all the youkai she saw, the daiyoukai managed to stand out not only because of the markings on his face that she had tried to ignore as she removed the purple paint, but because his hair seemed so silky and so beautiful that she couldn't help but want to touch it whenever she saw him.

Slowly moving her hands, Kagome let out a content and happy sigh when she touched a few strands, it was even softer than what she remembered from her strange dream. Moving quickly, she thanked the Gods for only a few strands being dirtied, it was a sin to taint such a beautiful hair.

After she made sure it was wet, she moved to grab the shampoo bottle and put a generous amount in her hand, if she had trouble in washing the paint away from his face, she had no doubt the hair would be even worse.

Time passed by and Kagome grew frustrated as she washed his hair for the third time and saw that it still had purple stains. Groaning in annoyance because she didn't want to be rough and tangle the strands, she asked Sesshoumaru to dive and stay underwater for one more time.

Turning to face her, no doubt wondering why it was taking so long, the inuyoukai stared at the miko with a questioning glance and she pouted.

''It's not coming off! I don't know how they made this stupid powder but I'm so going to get them for trying to prank me.'' She huffed crossing her arms in front of her chest. When Sesshoumaru kept staring at her and not doing what she wanted, she smiled shamelessly at him and spoke. ''At least purple looks good on you, my Lord.''

''Hn.'' Kagome could swear Sesshoumaru snorted, but such a disrespectful act wouldn't come from her Lord, obviously.

He did what she said and after using two whole bottles of Sakura's creation, Kagome's job was finally done and she smiled in relief. Maybe she had spent a bit too much time washing his hair just for the sake of touching it but who could blame her? She doubted any other human had ever done this and it was her first and last opportunity to touch the silky strands, she took the chance and didn't regret it, not even when she left the room under Sesshoumaru's questioning stare, no doubt knowing that she wanted to burst out laughing.

Her arms hurt when she left the room, her hands were a pale lilac color after spending so much time touching the paint and there was powder under her nails, but instead of feeling tired, Kagome walked away trying to control her giggles, the image of Sesshoumaru with his face painted purple was something she was sure she would never forget.

* * *

 **What do you guys think of Rin's prank? She's the easiest character for me to write about, her scenes flow better than the others and she's also the cutest! Thank you for the favorite, follows, and reviews, you guys are the best!**


	5. Allegiance

**Chapter 5 – Allegiance**

A soft knock on the door interrupted Sesshoumaru's train of thought and he looked up from the reports he was reading. The situation with the Southern Lord was getting annoying, the stupid ryu youkai kept invading his territory and even though their Lord said this would stop soon and he would keep everyone in control, Sesshoumaru doubted he would keep his word.

They weren't attacking anyone or causing any type of destruction per se, but he had the nagging feeling that they were investigating and searching for something and it was enough to catch the attention of his soldiers. Sesshoumaru wouldn't do anything that involved violence while they didn't attack first but that didn't mean he was pleased with the situation, the peace treaty they had was standing on a thin line and he didn't want to be the one to break it.

Another knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts and he inwardly sighed. He could tell by the smell of rain and the slightly nervous aura that the person behind the door was the miko, though he didn't understand why she was there.

They barely saw each other and Sesshoumaru had the feeling that she was avoiding him ever since Rin and the kit permanently damaged his clothes, probably because she knew he heard her laughter in the halls and didn't want to face his wrath. He had to ask for another set of clothes, identical to the last one, because the paint simply refused to come off and he didn't want to have to search for yet another maid after he sent the last one crying home for being useless and not washing the offending purple color away.

''Enter.'' He calmly said after he suppressed the urge to grimace as he remembered how long it took to clean his hands and claws because of Rin's prank. He never really worried about what she did with the other, some of her ideas were actually amusing but he discovered that being her target wasn't nearly as pleasing as simply watching the others get hurt.

''Please excuse my intrusion, my Lord,'' Kagome said as she bowed deeply and then straightened her posture. He nodded in acknowledgment and she took a deep breath before she spoke again.

''Rin is progressing very fast for a child of her age, she already knows how to read a few simple sentences and how to do basic calculations. She asked about my Lord's family while I was teaching her about the main family branches that ruled our lands,'' Kagome paused for a moment before she proceeded. ''I do not know much about the House of the Moon, only the main details, so I went to Sakura-sama to see if she could let me borrow a few books, she searched in the library but found nothing. She told me they were probably here, in your private office, and was about to come to you when a maid called her and she had to leave.''

Sesshoumaru quietly watched the woman in front of him as she spoke, already knowing what she would ask. ''I told Rin that we could read about my Lord's family later but she pouted and threatened to cry,'' Kagome huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, making Sesshoumaru raise an eyebrow at her. ''I did not want her to be sad so I came here to ask you permission to have the books I need, I hope I am not interrupting anything important, Sesshoumaru-sama.''

''Hn, they are on the third bookshelf on your left,'' The daiyoukai said after a few moments of silence, it seemed that not even the miko was immune to Rin's charm. ''You may pick up the ones you want and bring them later when you are done.''

Beaming for having achieved her goal and not having to deal with a crying young girl, Kagome bowed again. ''Thank you so much, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

The Lord of the West merely nodded his head and went back to read the next report. This one stated that one of his soldiers saw an ryu walking next to the borders of his lands but not really trespassing, and his general expressed concern because it wasn't the first time this happened. Sesshoumaru was about to write his reply when he heard another knock and told the person to come in too.

''My Lord,'' One of the oldest youkai serving him entered the room, bowing briefly before he started to speak again. ''Akio sent me here to ask you about the situation with the-'' The black haired inu suddenly stopped talking, making Sesshoumaru wonder what caught his attention.

''What is this whore doing here?'' Hitoshi harshly spoke and Sesshoumaru turned to face the miko, who had reappeared from behind the bookshelves and tried to balance three books in her hands while she reached for another one on the top of a shelf. ''The ones of her kind shouldn't even step in the shiro, much less in my Lord's private office.''

Sesshoumaru could feel the sudden tension in the air, as well as the rise of Hitoshi's youki, and mentally sighed, if he was human, he was sure he would have a headache by now. While the dark haired inuyoukai was a great warrior and had served him and his father well, he tended to jump to conclusions and freely speak his mind, not caring if he was offending anyone or not. It was one of the few things that kept Sesshoumaru from promoting him to one of his generals, Hitoshi was too loud and impulsive, Sesshoumaru needed someone who could rationally think even in the hardest situations and not just jump into a fight without thinking twice.

It was quite ironic that his name meant even-tempered and he was everything but that, life's quirks provided a small amount of amusement to the daiyoukai in moments like this one.

Meanwhile, Hitoshi's aura overwhelmed the room and Kagome's sense with his hatred for the human. Bringing a kid to the shiro was one thing, bringing a miko was another. The small human, though annoying in his opinion, didn't cause any problems and was rather inoffensive if you ignored the occasional mud flying through the place. Hitoshi was sure that she would leave when she grew up and everything would come back to normal, but the miko was just too much for him to keep quiet, she was a grown woman and he feared that his Lord would follow the steps of his father and bring destruction upon the West yet again.

''I don't think that keeping her here is a good idea, she's just collecting information and will probably leave once she finds what she wants,'' Hitoshi hissed, glaring at a now frozen Kagome. ''I have no doubts that after she leaves, she will return with an army of holy men and bring chaos upon these lands. You should kill her before it's too late!''

The room suddenly went silent and before Sesshoumaru could say anything, he felt the miko's reiki spark dangerously, giving off a silent warning.

''You are truly a fool if you believe I would betray Sesshoumaru-sama.'' Kagome calmly spoke, a small smile on her face. She recognized the black haired man and his aura full of hatred, he was one of the youkai who felt threatened by her and did nothing to hide their prejudice against humans.

''Did you just insult me, you human bitch?'' Hitoshi growled, narrowing his eyes and letting more of his youki out, wanting to overwhelm the miko's senses. ''Your kind knows nothing about loyalty, I have no doubt you would betray him if someone offered you a few golden coins.''

''You insulted me first, I only chose to repay your kindness,'' Kagome said, then her smile suddenly turned into a challenging smirk. ''You are truly idiotic if you believe Sesshoumaru-sama, the Killing Perfection, would let someone he didn't trust walk freely on his lands. Had he considered me a threat, I would be six feet deep in the ground right now, not talking with a senseless youkai.''

It took Hitoshi a moment to understand her words, but when he did, he unleashed his youki and dashed forward, sword in his hand and eyes completely red. Kagome had expected this though, so before he could get too close, she let a part of her reiki out and pushed him back, careful to avoid purifying Sesshoumaru in the heat of the moment.

''Foolish youkai,'' She tsked when she saw him struggling to break free but failing because if he got too close to her reiki, that circled him in a blinding pink light, he would be purified. ''Cease your attacks and I will let you go, I have no intentions of causing trouble to Sesshoumaru-sama and Rin-chan waits for me.''

Snarling at the human in front of him, the black haired youkai thought that if he couldn't move to kill her, he would make his sword do the job. In a move that was almost too quick for Kagome to see, he threw his sword at her like it weighed nothing, aiming to her heart, and her eyes widened. Biting back a scream when she threw herself on the floor seconds before the sword flashed past where she stood, Kagome glared at the youkai and gritted her teeth.

Looking at the wall behind her that now had a weapon stuck on it, Kagome raised herself to her feet and narrowed her eyes. ''Do not think, not even for just a second, that you can take me down. I may not believe that all youkai are evil but that does not mean that I will let you try to kill me and do nothing about it.''

Her reiki moved forward, backing the inuyoukai until his back hit the wall and there was less than a centimeter keeping him from touching the pink light. He hissed at the closeness, it was enough to make his blood burn, his beast wanting to be set free but not being able to because of the holy aura.

''I have no business with you so don't stay in my way, if you try anything like this again I will not hesitate to purify your sorry self,'' Kagome said, picking up the books she dropped when she threw herself on the floor. ''My loyalty lies with Sesshoumaru-sama, not with you or anyone else.''

''Humans know nothing about loyalty, you're just waiting for the best opportunity to betray my Lord and I will not let you get away with it!" Hitoshi growled, making Kagome's eyes twitch in annoyance, she was this close to accidentally purifying him and the only thing that held her back was the fact that Sesshoumaru wouldn't appreciate seeing one of his soldiers being turned into ashes right in front of his eyes.

Asking the daiyoukai to turn around was really tempting though.

''Hitoshi, cease your foolishness,'' Sesshoumaru barked, having heard enough, as he got up and stood in front of his desk. ''The miko stays and she is to be respected, or do you question my ability to judge those who are loyal to me?''

''She must have put a spell on you, my Lord, she is human and they are greedy by nature! She will put a knife through your back the second you turn around!" Hitoshi argued, glaring at Kagome.

''Is all this really about me not being loyal?'' Kagome asked through gritted teeth, she had seen her fair share of stupid humans and youkai alike but this was just too much. The glare she received in answer was enough and she huffed before putting the books on the desk, moving to kneel in front of Sesshoumaru, who frowned slightly at her.

Turning back to glare at Hitoshi one more time and pressing her reiki just a little bit closer to him, making him hiss in pain, Kagome turned to face Sesshoumaru and smiled slightly at him. ''I pledge allegiance to the Lord of the West, Sesshoumaru-sama, also known as the Killing Perfection. I swear by the old and new Gods to serve the House of the Moon with the best of my potential, my life is his to take in whatever way he deems fit in case I betray or do anything that may harm my Lord's reputation or anyone that he considers important.''

If she hadn't bared her neck to Sesshoumaru in an act of submission, she would have noticed the way his eyes widened in surprise and he took a second too long to recompose himself before scraping his claws on the exposed side of her neck, his hand wrapping around it and squeezing her softly to show who was in control.

''Rise,'' Sesshoumaru said after he let her go and Kagome turned to face him, a small smile on her face.

''Your life is mine and only mine to take in case you betray the House of the Moon,'' He spoke, the threat clear in the air as he spared a glance at Hitoshi. ''Until then, your safety is my concern and you are to be left alone, anyone who dares to go against my orders shall deal with the consequences.'' He finished, casually looking at his claws and Kagome smiled.

''Yes, my Lord. May I go now?'' She asked and he nodded.

Bowing, Kagome left the room after gathering the books and only let her reiki fade when she was at the end of the hall, leaving an angry inuyoukai and a confused daiyoukai behind.


	6. Question

**Chapter 6 – Question**

''Are you sure you want to do this?'' Sakura asked as she frowned, staring at the miko in front of her.

''Yeah, I've thought about it and I think it's the only way,'' Kagome answered, smiling softly at the green eyed youkai.

''But Kagome-chan!" Sakura whined, not happy with what the human asked her to do. ''I'm sure that if you give your hair a few more weeks it will recover!"

''It's been almost two months Sakura, it's still dry and falling apart, I'm sure it will be better if we just cut it,'' Kagome argued as she picked the scissor and gave it to the older woman, who pouted in response, clearly not pleased with what she was about to do.

So maybe Kagome was right, her hair was still dry and hadn't recovered its shine, but Sakura thought that cutting it was too extreme, if she gave a few more weeks she was sure it would go back to normal. Her hair was past her hips, it was too long and Kagome just expected her to cut it on her shoulders without complaining? The youkai huffed in annoyance and glared at Kagome's back, raising the scissor and cutting the first strand, watching as it fell on the floor.

''Are you sure you want to keep going?'' Sakura asked and Kagome rolled her eyes, nodding. ''Stupid miko, if I ruin your hair don't come whining later and asking for me to stick it back on your stubborn head!'' She huffed, making Kagome burst out laughing.

''I've thought about this for a long time Sakura-chan, don't worry about it. I'll deal with the consequences of having short hair later.'' Kagome said, amused by the frustrated sounds Sakura made when she watched another lock of her hair fall on the floor.

After ten minutes, Sakura grunted and moved to stand in front of the miko as she narrowed her eyes and held the face of the human in her hands. Turning from left to right, she bit her lip and pouted as she stared at Kagome. ''Since you didn't stop me from murdering your hair, let's make you at least look presentable.''

''Do whatever you want.'' Kagome shrugged, not really caring. She got what she wanted, her hair was on her shoulders and would grow healthily from now on, no more dry locks falling everywhere she went.

''Close your eyes,'' Sakura said and Kagome obeyed, she could feel the youkai gathering a few strands of her hair in front of her face and cutting them, making the strands fall on her lap.

After a few minutes, Sakura motioned for her to open her eyes as she held a small mirror in her hands. She now had bangs and Kagome realized how much the long hair gave her the appearance of a tired woman, now she had to be looking at least five years younger.

''This is great!" She squealed happily as she stared at Sakura, who tried to stay annoyed but failed and smiled back at the miko. ''Much better than what I expected, thank you so much!"

''You're welcome, now take care of your hair and stop complaining about it being too dry, use my shampoo and it will look exactly like mine in a few days,'' Sakura said, giggling when the miko hugged her.

''Yes, Sakura-sama!" Kagome said as she bowed deeply, making the youkai roll her eyes and shove her out of the room.

''Stop being stupid and go take care of Rin, I'm sure she set Jaken's clothes on fire by now.''

''Yes, Sakura-sama!" Kagome snickered and only received a hard shove on her back as an answer, making her laugh out loud.

* * *

The sun had started to set a while ago and Kagome, tired after chasing Rin and Shippo on the field, now laid on the grass, staring at the sky and its ever-changing colors.

The wind blew softly on her face, making a few strands of her hair move, and she was aware of almost everything around her. The heat of the sun that had started to disappear, the first stars that were slowing showing up, the soft grass under her, the laughter of both of the children she had been watching and even the sound of a few people moving in the shiro.

She was aware of her own heartbeat and the way her chest moved when she took every single breath, and as she stared at the orange and purple sky, she was grateful for being able to enjoy this silent spectacle.

After being locked out of the world for what it seemed like forever and being so close to death, she had become suddenly aware of how fragile life was. She could die at any second and once this thought sunk in, she promised herself that she would live her life to the fullest and enjoy every single moment of it.

Taking a deep breath, she smiled as she felt him approaching her. She knew he was there, she could always feel his aura and sometimes, like today, he would silently join her and watch Rin play, making her wonder if this was how he preferred to take a break from his duties.

''Hello, Sesshoumaru-sama.'' She said as she sat straight and looked up to face the stoic daiyoukai, who merely nodded at her in response.

A leaf fell on her lap and she realized that there probably was grass on her hair, so she started to run her hands through her short locks. A few more leaves fell and she giggled as the wind blew them away from her lap and back into the field, everything was silent and she enjoyed the peace and the strange sense of security she had whenever the Lord of the West was present.

Hitoshi didn't try to kill her anymore, and Kagome suspected that it had to do with the threat Sesshoumaru made and the fact that when she didn't feel him close, she could feel another youkai's aura watching her. It didn't threaten her so she assumed that it was someone her Lord sent to check on her, to see how Rin was progressing and to make sure she was being left alone.

''Why?'' His simple question snapped Kagome out of her thoughts, making her look up with wide eyes because this had to be the first time he started a conversation with her.

She was silent for a while, wondering what he meant and thought that the most logic answer was that he was talking about her hair. ''It wasn't growing healthily, the hair was dry and the only way to restore it would be to cut and wait until it grew again.''

Sesshoumaru shook his head and took a seat a few steps away from her as he stared at Rin, that was now chasing Shippo with a crown of flowers in her tiny hands. ''The pledge, why?''

Confused, Kagome frowned and turned to face him again. The wind was blowing softly, making a few strands of his silky hair move and she envied how soft they were, she could only hope her hair would turn to be that way now that she had cut it.

''I'm afraid I don't understand, my Lord.'' She answered, and after a few seconds of silence, she wondered if she had offended him with her stupidity.

''You are a miko,'' Sesshoumaru spoke after a while, making Kagome frown. ''Your purpose on Earth is to kill youkai, yet, you did not hesitate to pledge allegiance to one.''

That had to be the longest sentence she ever heard him say and her eyes widened in understanding. Smiling softly at the daiyoukai, who had now turned to stare at her as he waited for an answer, she spoke. ''It's because you gave me a choice, Sesshoumaru-sama.''

The slight frown on his face told Kagome that he didn't understand, and she spoke again as she turned to look at the fading sun in the sky.

''You saved my life and brought me here, even if it was because of Rin's lie, you took care of me and kept me alive.'' She started, a small smile on her face. ''When I woke up, you questioned me and believed in my words, you offered me a place to stay even though I have little to no use here in this shiro. I didn't have anywhere else to go, and even though you knew this, you didn't order me to stay. You gave me a choice even when I didn't have one, and for that, I will always be grateful.''

The silence was her only answer, when she stared at him, she saw that he was frowning slightly and smiled, he was probably confused and she didn't blame him, so she chose to give him a little insight on what her life had been before Onigumo.

''You probably don't care much about my silly human life, but I was raised on a shrine. I didn't meet my parents, Kaede-sama explained that I had been left at her door in the winter and she took me in, raising me as her own. She was very good to me, they all were, but I felt trapped.'' She sighed. ''They always ordered me around, I was good at healing so I was expected to be good at preparing medication and diagnosing diseases too, I knew how to use a bow so I was expected to master the sword and the dagger too. They called me a prodigy, I did everything that took most priestesses decades to learn when I was only fifteen but I wasn't happy. I just did what they told me to, I never wanted to be Kagome, the younger and most powerful miko from the village, I just didn't have a choice.''

Yawning, Kagome watched the last rays of the sun disappear behind the mountain and smiled at Sesshoumaru. ''I think you were the first to ever give me a choice, a sense of freedom and the feeling that I was in control of my life, so this is why I chose to stay. It probably sounds stupid but I'll always be grateful for that, thank you for listening to me, Sesshoumaru-sama.''

Getting up, she brushed the dust off her light pink kimono and called the children, it was time for them to clean up and eat. Shippo challenged Rin to see who would get to Jaken first and ran before the little girl could even understand what was happening, and with an annoyed cry, Rin started to chase the kit, who just smirked at her before he concentrated on winning.

Laughing, Kagome shook her head and bowed before she turned to leave. Her steps came to a halt when she heard Sesshoumaru's voice, softer than before, and his words resonated deep within her being, bringing back the feeling of comfort and acceptance she had long forgotten.

''Here, there is always a choice.''

* * *

 **This is a small but important chapter, showing a little bit of how Kagome's life was and how her relationship with Sesshoumaru stands. The longer chapters are coming so don't worry little one, you will not be disappointed! Thank you for the support, I'll see you guys on the next Saturday!**


	7. Sense

**Chapter 7 – Sense**

''So, who can explain what a daiyoukai is?'' Kagome asked as she calmly waited for both of the kids to order their thoughts. They had finished studying the basics about the demon society and like she did at the end of every week, she started to ask them what they learned.

''I know, I know!" Rin squealed as she raised her hand. When Kagome nodded, she smiled and spoke. ''A daiyoukai is a demon of great power, like Sesshoumaru-sama! Unlike the weaker youkai, they can take a perfect human form.''

''Very good.'' Kagome praised, patting the girl's head.

''But not all youkai who have a human form are daiyoukai!'' Shippo butted in. ''To be considered one, they have to be able to control their beasts and instincts perfectly, and they also turn into huge creatures that are their true form!"

''Yes, you two are getting so smart and even using complicated words to impress me!" Kagome laughed as she opened her arms and hugged both kids, making they giggle happily.

''Now one last question, who are the more known-'' Kagome's sentence was interrupted by Jaken, who banged the door of the room open and started screaming her name.

''Human, Sakura-san requests your presence in the healing section of the shiro, it's an emergency!" He said, already trying to shove her out of the room.

Frowning, Kagome got up and hugged Rin and Shippo, asking them to behave while she was gone, and quickly walked through the halls. She could feel something off in the atmosphere and her senses were tingling, her reiki trying to warn her of something as she entered the room.

The first thing she saw was Sakura looking through some medications and trying to find the right one, then she realized that Sesshoumaru was there and frowned. ''What's happening here?''

''Kagome!" Sakura said, looking relieved to see the miko. ''We need to act fast, Akio is losing a lot of blood and his youki isn't working fast enough to heal his other wounds!"

Only then the human recognized a familiar aura in the room, it belonged to a youkai with dark red hair and black eyes, and she realized that he was the one that occasionally checked up on her. Quickly moving to where he was sitting, Kagome grimaced when she saw the deep gash on his stomach and the blood that drenched his haori.

''Don't fight it.'' She warned before she put her hands on his chest and closed her eyes. Letting her reiki break free, she concentrated on making the bleeding stop and the wounds close. She could feel him struggling to keep his youki in check and was thankful that she wouldn't have to subjugate him in order to heal his body, it would be tricky and there was a high chance of hurting him even more in the process.

Opening her eyes and eyeing the wound, she hummed in appreciation when she saw that the deep gash was closed. Quickly looking at his other injuries, she smiled when saw nothing that would hurt him that badly and let her reiki fade back into her body.

''All done!" She happily said as Sakura moved with a wet rag to clean the blood out of the youkai's skin.

''Thank you, I would be able to heal him but he would pass out from exhaustion and Sesshoumaru-sama needs answers right now,'' Sakura said as she sighed and washed the bloodied rag in a small bucket with water. ''I'm sorry for bothering you.''

''It's alright, I always took care of the sick back in the shrine, I'm used to it,'' Kagome answered with a small smile and stepped away from the youkai when she saw Sesshoumaru getting closer.

''What happened, Akio?'' He asked, making the youkai groan in annoyance as he searched for something inside his haori.

''I had sent five soldiers to inspect the east border, they were taking way too much time though so I went there to check what was happening,'' The red haired youkai spoke, holding a small bag on his hand. ''When I got there, four of them were fighting over this and one was already dead. I tried to stop them but they turned on me, I had to kill them to escape alive.''

Once he gave the small package to Sesshoumaru and he dropped the contents on the bed, Kagome's eyes widened in fear.

''No...'' She whispered, looking at the three purple shards in front of her.

''Do you know what this is, miko?'' Sesshoumaru asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.

The sense of weariness she had before was because of this, she realized, but how had youkai obtained such thing? ''It's the Shikon no Tama.'' She whispered as she tried to understand what was happening, Kikyou had been guarding the jewel, she wouldn't let anyone touch it unless she was dead and that was impossible.

''Eh? I thought it was bigger than that.'' Sakura said as she frowned, confused.

''It is, these are just a few shard of the original jewel,'' Kagome answered, frowning. ''They are tainted, your men were probably lured by its power and didn't want to share, so they started to fight in order to obtain it.''

''I thought the Shikon had disappeared years ago,'' Akio spoke, just as confused as everyone else. ''I didn't feel anything when I touched the shards, I didn't even know it was possible for the jewel to be broken.''

''May I purify them, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' Kagome asked as she turned to face the stoic daiyoukai. Her reiki was tingling, her powers wanted to break free and purify the darkness that was around the room.

''Hn.'' Deducing that this was as close as a permission she would get, Kagome touched the shards and felt relieved once they immediately turned pink, her reiki now in check with the evil taint gone.

Akio and Sakura watched with curious eyes the pink shards in front of them, only turning to look up when they heard their Lord's voice.

''Miko, I am inclined to believe that you have some important information about this,'' Sesshoumaru said with a bored tone and had Kagome not paid attention, she would've missed the brief flash of curiosity in his eyes.

Nodding, the miko sighed and started to explain. ''As I told you before, I lived on a shrine and since most of the elders considered me a prodigy, they couldn't think of a better option to reveal their secret. The Shikon no Tama never disappeared, the slayers got fed up with the attacks on their village and decided that it would be better if they hid the jewel. They contacted a miko on a village next to the Bone-Eater well and she was able to conjure a barrier to hide the presence of the jewel, they gave the shikon to her and spread rumors that it had simply disappeared from their village, thus gaining their so wanted peace.''

''How easy for them, to leave the problem in the hands of another person,'' Akio commented and Kagome could only nod in response.

''Once the miko died, she passed the jewel to her successor and it kept going like this until now, only the chosen to be the guardian might know of the existence of the Shikon no Tama. It's a secret heavily guarded inside the miko's community, the only reason why the elders knew of this is because one of them had guarded the jewel in the past.'' Kagome said, remembering how surprised she had been once she heard the truth.

''They decided to tell me everything because the last keeper of the jewel had trouble, too many demons were attacking the village and the next in line couldn't discover what was wrong once she passed away. They wanted me to go there and try to put another barrier around the jewel and see if this would solve the problem, they told Kikyou to try this but something kept dissolving her barrier and Kaede-sama thought it would be better if another miko tried.'' Kagome finished her story, trying to understand why the shikon was now broken.

''I see, something must have happened to the keeper,'' Sakura muttered, making Kagome nod and bite her lip in worry. She knew Kikyou was capable of protecting the jewel, the miko had a deadly precision with her attacks and helped Kagome to improve a lot with her bow, in exchange, Kagome taught her a few tricks with swords just in case a demon got too close for comfort.

They were good friends and Kagome had spent a great amount of time in the other miko's company until Onigumo happened.

''My barrier worked better than Kikyou's but it still faded after a few months, I always went there to renew it from time to time.'' Kagome sighed, suddenly not being able to be happy with her new life anymore, if something happened with the jewel, it was partially her fault.

For the rest of the day, she couldn't help but feel guilty for allowing this to happen.

* * *

Sakura and the children noticed the change in Kagome's humor. The miko didn't laugh when Jaken was being tortured, she didn't notice when Shippo called her, she didn't smile when Rin made her a crown of flowers and it was like her mind wasn't there, making everyone worry.

During the following week, Sakura caught Kagome playing with the shards on her neck several times while she had a faraway look in her eyes. After realizing that the jewel was dangerous to be kept, Sesshoumaru gave them to the miko and she quickly placed a barrier around them, turning the three small shards into a bigger one in the process. He gave her the task of protecting it, and to make her job easier, Sakura put the shard on a tiny bottle made of glass and fused it with a chain, turning it into a necklace.

Sighing yet again, Kagome stared at the kids playing on the field and decided that she couldn't stay there anymore, she had to do something. She was about to get up and search for Sesshoumaru when he sat down next to her like he always did once in a while, making the miko's eyes widen because she didn't notice him approaching her.

He didn't say anything and Kagome took a deep breath as she gathered the courage to ask him what she wanted. Biting her lip, she opened her mouth to speak but was cut by his smooth voice.

''There are rumors that a miko, a hanyou, a slayer and a monk are searching for the shards and gathering them.'' He spoke, making Kagome's eyes widen and her heart beat faster in hopes of the miko being Kikyou.

''Really?" She said and he nodded, turning away from the field to look at her.

''Hn, a few of my soldiers reported that they are rather close to the West.'' The demon said, the miko's excitement when she heard the news was impossible to not notice and he realized that this look suited her more than the rather gloomy one she had the whole week.

''Sesshoumaru-sama, I've been wanting to ask you if you would let me go and search for Kikyou, I won't be able to be in peace until I find that she is safe,'' Kagome muttered, biting her lip as she looked at her folded hands on her lap. ''I'm indirectly responsible for what happened with the jewel and it's eating me alive.''

Kagome started to fidget in place when the demon didn't say anything, even a sigh or a grunt would satisfy her but he was completely silent, making the girl think that maybe she had offended him in some way.

After what it seemed like an eternity, she heard his trademark hn and sighed in relief, she had come to realize that this was his way of saying yes. She was about to thank him when he spoke, surprising her.

''I have personal business with the hanyou, we will leave in three days.'' Getting up, he left a speechless Kagome behind, but paused while walking away and turned to face her again. ''Tell Rin to pack up, you may bring the kit if you want.''

* * *

 **And here is where the fun part begins! And no, as you may have noticed, I won't be taking the road where Kikyou is the jealous dead corpse that tried to steal Kagome's soul and send the rest of the world to hell with her. She wasn't my favorite character in the show but I still liked her (and maybe cried when she died, but that's a secret) so I wanted to give her a different role here. I hope you all like it.**


	8. Fly

**Chapter 8 –Fly**

''We're ready, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin squealed happily as she sat on top of a two-headed dragon and patted the beast's head.

''Hn.'' Her Lord answered as he looked at the speechless miko that was staring at the dragon.

''Come on Kagome-chan, get on Ah-Un!" Rin said as she motioned for the woman to sit behind her and helped Shippo to get on.

''I never saw a dragon before.'' The miko muttered as she approached the beast and slowly raised her hand to touch it.

Ah, never the one to lose the opportunity of being petted, quickly moved his head to touch the miko's hand, making her squeal in surprise. Patting it gently, she giggled when Un moved to poke her waist, silently demanding attention too. After she made sure both of them were pleased, Kagome smiled and climbed to sit behind Rin, holding the little girl by her waist and squealing when the dragon suddenly jumped into the sky.

''This is amazing!" She exclaimed as she smiled brightly, she never thought she would be able to fly someday.

''Do you have everything?'' Sesshoumaru asked and she nodded.

She had packed clothes for herself, Rin and Shippo, as well as some food and water in case the kids felt hungry during the flight. Shippo was comfortably sitting on Rin's lap and Kagome had a sword on her waist, as well as a dagger, and a bow on her back, just in case they needed extra protection.

Sesshoumaru had raised an eyebrow at her when she asked him if he could lend her a few weapons but let her choose them anyway, not once questioning her ability to wield such things. It made Kagome smile softly when he didn't doubt her skills, the Lord of the West was one of the few people who didn't doubt her word and she couldn't help but feel grateful for his small act of trust.

''Wait for me, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken shouted as he jumped and attached himself to Ah-Un's tail, quickly climbing his way to a more comfortable spot on the beast's back.

''Hn.'' With this, they started to move. It took Kagome more than a minute to realize that Sesshoumaru was flying on a thing that looked like a cloud, she had been too mesmerized by the world below her and how small things looked from up there to properly pay attention to anything.

''Hey, I didn't know you could fly!" She said as she stared at her Lord's back with wide eyes.

Sesshoumaru turned his head to face her and raised an eyebrow, the way he looked at her made Kagome few stupid and she pouted.

''Stop staring at me like that! I'm not a youkai, how was I supposed to know that you could just summon a cloud and fly to wherever you wanted?'' She huffed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, she could swear she saw amusement in his eyes . ''How can you do this? Can I learn it too? I would love to be able to fly!"

It was in the moment she started firing questions that Sesshoumaru understood why she looked so familiar to him, whenever he decided to watch over Rin, he would always find the miko there too and had the strange sensation of familiarity. As he took his time to really pay attention to her, he realized that the reason why he felt like this was because she resembled his ward not only on her looks but on her personality too, if she said she was Rin's mother, no one would be able to prove otherwise.

''Stupid miko, stop bothering Sesshoumaru-sama with silly questions!" Jaken snapped as he moved his staff wildly in the air, almost hitting Kagome's head.

''Why are you so mean?" The miko groaned, glaring at the toad and only succeeding in making him glare back at her.

''If Kagome-chan can make a cloud like Sesshoumaru-sama's one, can Rin make one too?" The little girl spoke, making Kagome giggle and Jaken scream in indignation, those stupid humans would never be able to compare to his Lord!

''It is made of my youki,'' Sesshoumaru spoke, turning from his ward and her companions to face the sky in front of him, his voice successfully making everyone go silent. ''If the miko is powerful enough, she might be able to bend her reiki in the same way and tame it.''

After a full minute of silence that made Sesshoumaru wonder if he was finally going to have peace, Kagome squealed happily, making Rin and Shippo giggle.

''Really? Can you teach me that, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' The miko asked, ignoring Jaken's protest and staring at Sesshoumaru's back with hopeful eyes.

When he turned to look at her and saw her face, that glowing with excitement reminded him so much of Rin, he found himself unable to deny her request. Slowly nodding his head, he watched as Kagome and Rin squealed, the little girl asking the miko to teach her too once she had learned that.

Saying that first they had to wait for her to grown in order to see if she had reiki lying dormant inside her, Kagome successfully made Rin calm down while managing to not upset her. The miko knew her powers developed rather early and that Rin still had a chance of being a priestess too, but she didn't want to create expectations for the girl and watch her get disappointed in case it failed.

Smiling as they looked at the blue sky, both girls stayed quiet for the rest of the trip, just admiring the scenery in front of them.

* * *

''But Sesshoumaru-sama!" Kagome groaned as she threw a stick into the fire, utterly bored.

Rin fell asleep as soon as she ate, just like Shippo. Bathing them both was a slightly hard task and Kagome swore that if she had to chase them down one more time to take a bath, she would just let Jaken deal with them. They were both tired after running halfway across the woods just to escape the miko and once they were clean and ate properly, they both blacked out, leaving Kagome to find something else to do while sleep didn't come to her.

It was way too early for her to sleep, she tried to talk with Jaken but he ignored her and moved to sleep with Ah-Un, leaving the miko to find another way of entertaining herself. Sighing as she stared at the daiyoukai that was ignoring her, Kagome groaned again.

''You promised!" She pouted, and this time, she succeeded in making him turn to look at her.

Kagome had spent the last four days trying to convince him to teach her how to use her reiki to make a cloud like his but he simply ignored her existence, making her feel frustrated and annoyed enough to start whining like a child.

''I could go on all night with this,'' She threatened, ignoring his narrowed eyes that clearly demanded silence. ''It would be easier for both of us if you just granted this poor human mercy and decided that you're feeling benevolent enough to teach me how to make the flying cloud.''

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed even more and Kagome wondered for a second when she had stopped fearing him, the look he was sending her way was enough to freeze the whole ocean and yet, she just ignored it. Between flying and camping, she realized that her Lord wasn't as cold and merciless as the rumors said. He hunted and presented the meat for her to prepare for the children, he stopped when he noticed that they were tired, he moved at a slower pace in order to not drain their bodies and he always listened to both Rin and Shippo whenever they blabbed on, never once ignoring them or saying they should shut up.

Those little facts made Kagome get more comfortable in his presence but it was only yesterday, when she woke up and saw Rin cuddled to Sesshoumaru's fur, that she completely lost her fear. The scene was so touching that for a second she forgot about the difference between their kind, there was only a father and a daughter in front of her. The way he protectively held her made Kagome smile softly as she stared at the scene, nothing would be able to make her think that Sesshoumaru was merciless again, not even he himself at the exact second where he opened his eyes and slightly narrowed them at her because he noticed she was staring and interrupting his bonding time with his ward.

''You are insufferable,'' The daiyoukai spoke and Kagome shrugged. He was right, she was purposefully annoying him to have her way. ''Disrespectful too, a mere human should not speak to a Lord like that.''

''But you promised!" She whined, completely ignoring what he said because she knew he was about to lose it.

''Stupid, insufferable miko,'' Sesshoumaru growled as he suddenly got up and glared at her.

Turning his back to Kagome, Sesshoumaru kicked Jaken awake and told him to watch the children before he left, a smirking Kagome following.

''Does that mean we're going to practice now, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' She asked.

''Only because this Sesshoumaru does not wish to have a migraine, miko.'' The daiyoukai all but growled at her, making Kagome smile brightly at his back and all the way to the field he was leading her.

Once they arrived there, Sesshoumaru proceeded to sit against a rock and narrow his eyes at her. ''Meditate.''

Kagome wondered if he ordered her to do that just to make her shut up but decided to not push her luck and obey him, Kaede had taught her the importance of meditation after all. Taking a seat between a few small white flowers, Kagome stretched and then positioned herself, closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

Time passed and she didn't even notice, the full moon was now high in the sky and her mind was completely blank, simply focused on feeling her reiki and breathing. She felt the holy energy move within her body in a calm dance, giving her a sense of peace as she felt each beat of her heart and after a while, she heard Sesshoumaru's voice and slowly opened her eyes, yawning before turning to face him.

His eyebrow was raised and she knew he thought she was tired, so she narrowed her eyes at him and spoke. ''Now, when are we going to start?''

His eyes narrowed back at her and Kagome wondered if Sesshoumaru was about to start a glaring contest with her, she would never be able to win.

''Materialize your reiki.'' He spoke, making Kagome frown as she concentrated on an empty spot in front of her.

After a few seconds, a light pink arrow appeared in front of her chest and she smiled. ''It's been a while since I did this, I was afraid of scaring the demons in the shiro so I avoided using my powers as much as I could.''

''Move it.'' He spoke, tilting his head slightly to the left and watching the arrow move in circles around the miko. Briefly looking at the field, he found what he wanted and turned to face her again.

''The apple,'' Sesshoumaru said as he pointed at it. ''Ready,'' He started, the miko's eyes widening when she realized what he wanted her to do.

''Damn, that's too far!" She complained, she could barely see the tree in the dark, the apple was just a red blurred dot in her vision.

''Aim,'' Sesshoumaru kept going, completely ignoring her. Glaring at him for a second when she noticed he wouldn't stop, Kagome turned to face the red dot and focused all her attention on it, the arrow now facing its target.

''Fire.'' He spoke and calmly watched as the arrow darted forward with an impressive speed, hitting the target and making it fall on the grass before a pink light surrounded it and the apple was left intact on the ground.

The daiyoukai was slightly impressed, the miko's aim was deadly even in the dark, something he didn't expect to because humans couldn't see well without light. Turning to face her, he noticed that she was still glaring at him and raised an eyebrow.

''That was unfair, I can't see in the dark because human eyesight is stupid!" She complained, crossing her arms in front of her chest and pouting. ''I could have missed it!"

''Yet you didn't,'' Sesshoumaru commented, making the miko release a frustrated groan. Kagome was about to start complaining about stuck up daiyoukai when he decided to interrupt her. ''Impressive, for a human.''

It took her a small amount of time to realize that the Lord of the West had just complimented her abilities, but when it finally sunk in, her eyes widened and she smiled brightly at him, her annoyance completely forgotten.

Kagome knew he didn't give compliments freely or without merit so she treasured his words, he would never lie just to make her feel better and he had no reason to.

''Can you make another weapon?'' He asked but Kagome shook her head.

''No, the sisterhood focused more on archery since it's our main form of protection, I never tried to make anything besides a bow and some arrows.'' She answered and he nodded.

''We will start with daggers,'' Sesshoumaru spoke, and as if he was reading her mind, he explained. ''You need practice in materializing your reiki, arrows are too simple to be compared to the amount of concentration you need to fly.''

Nodding her head, Kagome listened to Sesshoumaru's instructions for the rest of the night while she practiced. He corrected her when she was using too much energy, guided her through the motions and a few hours before the sun started to appear, he noticed she was getting tired and decided they were done for the day.

Kagome had accomplished to create a dagger as perfect as the arrow and she smiled brightly at him before she collapsed on the ground next to Rin, falling asleep as soon as her head touched the ground. Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru threw more wood into the fire and took his seat next to the tree once again, looking at the sky and watching it as the colors began to mix until the sun finally rose.

* * *

 **I thought about giving you guys a little bit of interaction between them before we jump into the action. Thank you for the support, you guys are the best!**


	9. Fear

**Chapter 9 – Fear**

Kagome gasped for air as she abruptly sat up, clutching her throat.

Her hands were shaking and her heart was beating way too fast, she tried to calm herself down but failed miserably. She could still feel the fear that had taken over her mind, the sensation of being utterly helpless as their hands grabbed her body and tried to rip her clothes off, she could still hear their voices, the promises of what they would do to her.

Taking a shaky breath, Kagome looked around and tried to tell herself that she was safe. She was with Rin, Shippo, Ah-Un and even Jaken, nothing would happen to her because she was sure Sesshoumaru would protect them, she had nothing to fear. Digging her nails into her palms, Kagome closed her eyes and forced the memory away, she wanted to cry but she wouldn't give the ghosts that haunted her mind the satisfaction.

''Miko,'' Kagome bit back a scream when she heard the voice, turning to look at the one who spoke with wide eyes. ''There is no danger here.''

The daiyoukai could sense her fear in the air, he could smell the salty scent of the unshed tears and mentally sighed, wondering what had caused the miko to be so disturbed. She seemed fine on the other nights, she slept soundlessly and woke up with a bright mood, he couldn't figure what was wrong now and the scent of her fear disturbed him. When he saw her looking around, searching for something that could prove her she was safe, he decided to appease her fears, much like he did with Rin once she had been resurrected.

He never thought his father's fang, Tenseiga, would be useful to him but there came a day where he had needed it. Rin had found him when he was injured after a battle with InuYasha, his worthless half-brother who got Tessaiga, his father's most powerful sword. Sesshoumaru had been trying to restore his honor and recover the sword, a half-breed wasn't worthy of possessing such a powerful heirloom and the fact that his father didn't give it to him was insulting, Sesshoumaru was his heir, the sword was his by right.

InuYasha ended up cutting Sesshoumaru's arm off while he was in the middle of transforming into his real form, and after making sure the half-breed was severely injured, Sesshoumaru snorted in disdain and left in order to recover himself. He underestimated the severity of his injuries though and passed out in the middle of the woods, far from his lands.

When he woke up, he found a little girl taking care of him and though he tried to chase her away, she always came back and offered him food. He noticed that she was always dirty and skinny, sometimes he would see a bruise on her body and wondered why the girl was so stupid to the point of giving him food when it was obvious she needed it more than him.

Once he recovered, he left without looking back. He had not only lost his father's heirloom to a half-breed but the same mutt had managed to sever his left arm off by playing dirty, Sesshoumaru's pride had been damaged.

In the middle of the path he followed to go back to his shiro, he found a village and could smell the scent of blood, the place had been raided by ookami youkai. He passed by without batting an eye but stopped when he noticed the smell of the blood of the little girl that had taken care of him and until today, Sesshoumaru was still not sure why he decided to follow the scent.

When he found her dead body, he felt something inside him change and narrowed his eyes. Tenseiga, the sword that his father had left for him and supposedly brought people back from the dead, started to pulse on his sash and Sesshoumaru unsheathed it. He had never bothered to use it before but now he could see the undead trying to take the little girl's soul away, and with a quick slash, they were all gone and her heart started to beat again.

Sesshoumaru watched with interest as the wounds on her body closed before fading away and the color returned to her skin as she suddenly sat up and gasped for air. When the girl saw him, her eyes widened and she smiled brightly as she got up and ran to hug his leg. He didn't say a word to her, only raised an eyebrow, and she giggled before she held onto his mokomoko-sama and started to walk together with him.

He still wasn't sure about the reason why she decided to follow a dangerous daiyoukai around, but he reasoned that since she had tried to take care of him, he should do the same to repay her. Rin had been around him ever since this day, two years ago, and he often had to deal with her waking up from the nightmares of her life before he found her.

Humans could be truly disgraceful. After Rin's father died in the war, the other villagers started to steal her possessions and beat her when she tried to fight back, the girl had no mother, the woman had died when she was nothing but a baby due to an unknown sickness, so she was an easy target. The little girl had been forced to steal food and hide in the woods in fear of being beaten again, which explained why she seemed so unhealthy and bruised when he found her.

''I-I know,'' Kagome muttered, biting her lip and looking at the grass. He could still hear her heart beating fast and the shaky breaths she took, and it annoyed him.

''What ails you, miko?'' Sesshoumaru asked as he stopped looking at the sky and paid proper attention to the human. She looked fragile and way too pale in the moonlight, making him wonder what had caused this reaction on her.

''Nightmare,'' Kagome whispered so low that he almost missed it. She turned to look at the daiyoukai and saw that he was waiting for her to elaborate.

Biting her lip, she sighed and decided to speak. ''I could feel their hands on me, trying to tear my clothes away. I could hear the promises of what they would do to me and how they would use me after their master was done, of all the memories I have from being captive, this is by far the worst one.''

Sesshoumaru understood what she had been talking about, rape was rather common in the human culture but was viewed as a disgrace by the youkai society. A male that couldn't willingly make a female his and forced himself on her was shunned by everyone one and sentenced to death, it was a dishonor to the family and to the society as a whole, he never understood why humans didn't condemn this act like they did.

''I was hopeless, I couldn't do anything to stop them from touching me, I thought I would die there, sullied by the hands of bandits.'' Kagome let out a shaky whisper as she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. ''The torture wasn't half as bad as this moment, I was so glad when they got afraid of me because of what my reiki did, it was a small measure of peace inside that living hell.''

Sesshoumaru pressed his lips together as he stared at her, he could feel her despair in the air and decided that he didn't like it, the miko's company was much more enjoyable when she was her normal and cheerful self.

''Come.'' Getting up, Sesshoumaru motioned for her to follow and walked away.

''Where are we going?'' Kagome asked as she frowned at the daiyoukai's back.

She didn't expect him to offer any kind of comfort but walking away was a bit too rude for someone like him. She stopped walking when saw him pause and turn to face her as he pointed at the weapons on her waist.

''Get the dagger.'' He said and she frowned but obeyed. ''You will keep it inside your sleeve from now on, in case of danger.''

''What do you mean?'' Kagome asked, confused when he started walking closer to her.

Holding her wrist, Sesshoumaru put the dagger in a pocket inside the sleeve of her right hand and spoke. ''This Sesshoumaru will teach you how to protect yourself properly, in case you find yourself alone.''

Eyes widening, Kagome's mouth opened slightly as she gaped at the daiyoukai. She couldn't believe what he had offered her and suddenly felt the need to cry and hug him. Nodding, Kagome bit her lip and struggled to show him how much this meant to her. When she was about to speak though, he shook his head softly and she knew he understood.

''First lesson: If they grab you, stab them anywhere you can reach, it does not matter if it is a vital point or not, just damage them.'' He spoke, making Kagome nod. ''I am going to hold you now, and you will do as I say.''

Before she could blink, Sesshoumaru had disappeared from her view and she suddenly felt both of her arms being held behind her back, making her eyes widen in surprise at how fast he moved. As she struggled to break free, she felt his breath on her ear and shuddered, wondering for a second if he ever missed his lost arm because he seemed completely capable of living without it.

''Twist your wrist to the left and then you will be able to get the dagger.'' He instructed and she obeyed, her eyes widening when she noticed that putting the weapon on her sleeve was actually a great idea. ''Second lesson: Once you break free, watch how many of them are trying to get you and even if it is only one human, see if you can take him down by yourself. Try to count how many of them are there before they try to immobilize you, that way you will not lose time.''

Kagome used this moment to swing her dagger at him and watched in amazement as he let her go and nodded in approval at what she did.

''If you cannot take them down, use the third lesson: Run.'' He spoke and Kagome's eyes widened as her instincts took over and she started to run, clutching the dagger tightly in her hand as she jumped over a rock.

She dodged the trees and was about to turn left when something slammed into her side, knocking the air out of her as her back hit a tree. ''Fourth lesson: Go somewhere safe and hide until they leave or help arrives.''

Letting out a shaky breath, Kagome tried to ignore the way her heart beat faster at her proximity with the daiyoukai and focused on what he was saying. ''These are the only things you need to know when you are in this situation. You break free, you run, and you hide.''

Nodding her head, Kagome moved her neck to face him. The moonlight illuminating the markings on his face suddenly made her realize that looking up was a bad idea, his looks captivated her to the point she couldn't bring herself to look away from his golden eyes.

''Come,'' Sesshoumaru spoke as he let her go. ''This Sesshoumaru will also teach you how to properly use the dagger in case you get in a fight.''

Dumbly nodding and following him, Kagome's heart warmed up when she realized what the daiyoukai was doing to help her even though she didn't ask him to. She wondered how anyone could call him heartless, the Lord of the West had been nothing but kind to her ever since he had saved her life.

Eyes widening when she noticed that she was getting too far behind, Kagome jogged to catch up with him and gave Sesshoumaru a bright smile, happy for finally being able to forget her nightmare.

* * *

 **Yep, you were wrong if you thought make Kagome meet Sesshoumaru, escape prison, and magically forget about her life as a slave. Though she seems fine most of the time here, the ghosts of her past still haunt her, she just pretends they don't exist. In some moments, she's not able to ignore them and this is what I tried to portray here, I hope you liked it.**


	10. Meetings

**Chapter 10 – Meetings**

Kagome awkwardly tried to stretch her arms as she yawned, a task that wasn't easy to do when you had a sleeping kit on your lap and an annoying toad sitting behind you. They had been flying for a while and Kagome couldn't wait to finally land and get some sleep, she had spent the past two nights awake, learning how to fight with Sesshoumaru, and her body was starting to feel the consequences of it.

Rin giggled as she stared at the miko's weird position and Kagome glared playfully at her, making the girl laugh even more.

''What's happening?'' Shippo asked as he yawned and sat up, making both humans burst out laughing.

Frowning in confusion, the kit looked around to find what was so funny but got confused when he saw nothing. He was about to ask what was wrong with them when something fell on his eyes and blocked his vision.

''Oh no!" Shippo groaned in annoyance as he picked the object from his head and stared at it with disgust clearly written on his chubby face. Glaring at his friend and his mother, Shippo huffed and threw the crown made of pink flowers on Jaken's sleeping form, snickering at the funny sight the toad made when covered in pink.

Kagome and Rin giggled louder and the kit rolled his eyes, his mother could be worse than him when it came to acting like a child, sometimes he wondered who the adult in the family really was.

''Now, don't give us that look!" Kagome said as she smirked.

''You looked great, Shippo-chan!" Rin innocently smiled, not once fooling him with her angelic face. She was worse than him when it came to creating pranks, with her mischievous mind and his kitsune tricks, they were unstoppable.

Kagome smiled and was about to say something when Ah-Un abruptly moved to the left, making everyone that was on his back scream in surprise. Looking down, Kagome saw that they barely avoided a wave of youki and her eyes widened when she realized what was happening.

There, on the field below them, stood a hanyou with a sword, swinging it back and forth and creating some sort of youki-based attack. Next to him stood a woman in a black suit with a giant weapon on her hands, ready to attack, just like the monk next to her.

''Sesshoumaru you bastard! What do you want? Trying to steal father's sword again?!" The hanyou dressed in red shouted, making Kagome's eyes widen in surprise at his boldness, few were the ones who spoke to the Lord of the West in such a way and escaped alive.

''As foolish as ever, I see,'' Sesshoumaru spoke, making Kagome turn to look at him and finally notice that he also had a sword in his hand.

Kagome wondered for a second if this was the group they were searching for but she failed to see the miko that was supposed to travel with them. Biting back a scream when another wave of youki almost hit Ah-Un, Kagome's eyes twitched in annoyance and she glared at the hanyou who almost killed her twice in less than a minute. Quickly putting a barrier around them, Kagome put Shippo on Rin's lap and told them to hold on tight as she woke Jaken with a hit on his head.

Once the toad stopped shouting profanities at her, he finally noticed what was happening and started to swing his staff back and forth, making Kagome question her decision of waking him up as she got her bow ready and infused an arrow with her holy powers. Rin screamed as the next wave of power hit the barrier, making Sesshoumaru turn away from the battle to look at them.

In the second he did this, Kagome noticed that there was something wrong and then she felt it, a purifying arrow was coming straight to his heart and her eyes widened. Aiming and firing in a matter of seconds, Kagome watched Sesshoumaru's eyes widen slightly as her arrow flew right past him and hit the other one, making them both explode in the air.

The daiyoukai evaded another hit from the hanyou's sword and when Kagome saw a miko stepping out of the woods with another arrow aimed at Sesshoumaru, she got annoyed. They did absolutely nothing against them, it was the crazy hanyou that started the fight while they were just flying and those humans were getting ready to attack her too, she was completely innocent! This was simply stupid and she refused to just watch them try to hurt her!

Narrowing her eyes, Kagome waited until the miko got close to the slayer and fired, the arrow hitting the grass next to her. Quickly aiming another arrow, Kagome shot and hit the monk's side this time, and when Sesshoumaru threw the hanyou back and he fell right in front of the miko, she smirked. The last arrow hit the ground right in front of his feet and the three arrows suddenly started to burn, her reiki cracking in the air until all the arrows were connected by it and everyone was trapped inside a triangle of holy energy.

The slayer could move freely if she wanted, but the monk and the miko couldn't, Kagome's reiki overpowered theirs and made it impossible to get out without suffering from dizziness. This was one of the many trapping barriers Kaede had taught her to create and it was one of the most innocent ones too because to anyone who didn't know what she was doing, it looked as if she had simply missed a shot.

''Sesshoumaru you asshole!'' The hanyou screamed, struggling to breathe inside the trap. ''What the fuck are you doing with this crazy bitch over there? Don't tell me the mighty Lord of the West is fucking human whores?''

Kagome lost it the moment she heard him call her a whore, her left eye twitched in annoyance and she glared darkly at him as she jumped from Ah-Un's back to the ground. Sesshoumaru was standing right behind her and she walked to stand in front of the half-breed with red clothes, narrowing her eyes at him.

''The only asshole I'm seeing here is you, asshole!" She said, overwhelmed with the urge to just accidentally purify his sorry ass. ''What the fuck did you think you were doing when you attacked us? We were just flying and suddenly you're waving your sword around like it's a goddamn stick and trying to kill everyone!'' She shouted, feeling tempted to burn him a little.

''Bitch, I don't know who you are but unless you are fucking Icicle over there, you're hanging with the wrong crowd.'' He barked and Kagome's hands twitched, if she shot just a small spark of reiki, no one would even notice he would be hurt.

''You are as stupid as I remember, InuYasha,'' Sesshoumaru spoke and Kagome turned to face him, trying to focus on anything but the urge to kill something.

''Do you know him, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' She asked and he nodded, looking slightly annoyed because of this fact.

''He is my half-brother.'' He spoke and Kagome did a double take.

''He is your what?!'' She squealed as she proceeded to stare at Sesshoumaru, then at InuYasha, and finally repeat the whole process again.

''Half-brother,'' Sesshoumaru spoke, though it sounded awfully a lot like a sigh to Kagome.

''But-but…'' Kagome started to stutter as she pointed at him, there was no way that creature without manners could be his brother. ''You are so- and he is so-"

''Keh, is the bitch dumb?'' InuYasha scoffed and Kagome turned to glare at him again, gritting her teeth as she wondered if it would really be that bad to kill the brother of the Western Lord.

''Don't talk to my mama like that, mutt!" Shippo suddenly said as he ran to stand in front of Kagome in a protective stance.

''Shut up kid, I can crush you with my eyes closed!'' InuYasha barked and Shippo's eyes narrowed.

''Shippo-chan, Kagome-chan!" Rin screamed as she ran to hug the woman's leg. ''Come back, Sesshoumaru-sama will deal with them!" She said as she started to tug on Kagome's kimono, still hiding behind her legs.

''Rin you stupid human, come back here!" Jaken screamed as he ran to stand in front of the miko and started waving his staff wildly in the air. ''If something happens to you Sesshoumaru-sama will kill me! Back off, half-breed, you will never be strong enough to defeat my Lord!"

''Kagome?'' The other miko spoke as she took a step forward, making Kagome turn to look at her and frown in confusion.

''Do you know this wench, Kikyou?'' The half-breed barked and Kagome's eyes widened.

''Kikyou? Are you alive?!" She spoke, suddenly feeling dumb for not recognizing the woman she came to consider as a sister. ''What happened to your hair?''

''I should be the one asking this question!" Kikyou said as she pushed InuYasha back and stood as close as possible to her friend.

''I cut it,'' Kagome shrugged, wanting to hug the other miko but not daring to break her spell because the hanyou looked dangerous to her. ''You never put your hair back though, it was always loose!''

''It was getting on my face, I couldn't fight properly,'' Kikyou answered, completely ignoring the hanyou behind her and his questions.

''What the fuck is happening here? How do you know the wench, Kikyou?'' He asked and both women suddenly turned to glare at him.

''Don't speak of my sister like that!" Kikyou hissed and everyone's eyes widened.

''She's your sister, Kagome-chan?'' Rin asked and Kagome nodded.

''Not by blood, we spent much time together when we were younger and I started to think of her as my older sister.'' She explained and Rin nodded, peeking from behind her.

''You two could pass by as real sisters though, almost twins.'' The slayer spoke as she put her weapon down and stretched, if Kikyou knew this woman, there was no reason to fight.

''We have much to discuss, Kikyou,'' Kagome said and the miko nodded.

''You disappeared, what happened?'' Kikyou asked, making Kagome shake her head.

''It's a long story, we need to sit down and rest before I start to explain.'' She answered and turned to face Sesshoumaru, who was watching the scene with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

''She's the one who was guarding the jewel, Sesshoumaru-sama,'' Kagome spoke, biting her lip. ''May I release them and proceed to camp for the night?''

''Hn, you have much to explain, miko.'' The daiyoukai nodded but saw the miko hesitating to release the spell she had put on the arrows.

''You,'' Kagome spoke as she narrowed her eyes at InuYasha, who glared at her in return. ''Behave. If I see you threatening anyone here, and that includes the dragon and the annoying toad, I will purify your ass to hell.''

''You will be good, won't you, InuYasha?'' Kikyou said with a sweet voice that made the hanyou shiver in fear and nod, he never wanted to mess with an annoyed miko, much less two.

''Good,'' Kagome said as she kneeled in front of one of the arrows and touched it, making her reiki fade and the spell break. ''Now, shall we find a place to rest? I believe we have much to discuss.''

* * *

 **And here's the chapter you all were waiting, I love writing the scenes where InuYasha is, they are always funny. What do you guys think of him and the others?**


	11. Discussions

**Chapter 11 – Discussions**

Rin warily eyed the man with puppy ears as she munched her fish, he was trying to scare her but she wouldn't back down. Putting on a cold expression that rivaled Sesshoumaru's one, the little girl glared back at the hanyou and they both stood like this until the miko knocked his head with her bow.

''For Kami's sake InuYasha, are you really going to enter a glaring contest with a child?'' Kikyou said, annoyed at how her friend was behaving.

''That girl is no child, she spent too much time around Icicle and now she's his clone, look at her expression!'' The hanyou complained as he rubbed his sore head.

''The only child I'm seeing here is the idiot, I wonder how you came to travel with some as unmannered as him,'' Kagome muttered as she sat close to Rin and protectively put an arm around her shoulder, making the girl smile briefly at her before she returned to glare at the hanyou.

''Desperate times require desperate measures,'' Kikyou said, grimacing. ''The Shikon's aura got too strong, no one was able to hide it anymore and many youkai started to threaten the village. InuYasha was one of them but after a while, I realized he was harmless and we became friends, he helped me to protect the place until the day the jewel broke.''

''How did this happen?'' Kagome asked, frowning.

''I don't know,'' Kikyou muttered as she bit her lip. ''Everything was normal on that day, I took care of the young ones, InuYasha helped the elders and we were living peacefully until the jewel started to burn on my neck. It started to hurt me and I threw it away, when it touched the ground, it started to float and simply exploded in the air.''

''The fragments went flying everywhere, Kikyou's hand still has the burn mark from when she held the jewel to throw it away,'' InuYasha spoke, making Kagome's eyes widen when her friend showed her the scar on her left hand.

''I don't understand, that shouldn't have happened.'' She spoke, pressing her lips together.

''We left the village to find the fragments of the jewel, I can feel them and we're trying to collect them before they fall into the wrong hands.'' Kikyou sighed. ''But what happened with you, Kagome? You were gone for a year and a half and when I meet you again, you have a kitsune calling you his mother and the Lord of the West on your side.''

''A year and a half?'' Kagome's eyes widened, she had been with Sesshoumaru for a little more than three months, that meant she had been held captive for a whole year. ''I see, I'm sorry for disappearing, I simply couldn't help it.''

''Is this the only explanation I'm going to get?'' Kikyou spoke, biting her lip and frowning at the woman she considered her sister. ''I thought you were dead! I tried to search for you in the shrine but the place looked like it had been abandoned, what happened?''

''I still don't know what happened to Kaede-sama and everyone else,'' Kagome spoke, making Kikyou frown. ''One day, she woke me and said that I had to travel to a village close to yours, claiming that they needed help. I thought it was weird but did as she said, when I arrived at the village, there was nothing wrong there and after spending a few days resting, I decided to come back, something wasn't right.''

Sesshoumaru listened to the story with interest, nothing was making sense to him. The Shikon no Tama shouldn't be able to simply explode into small pieces, there was something wrong with this whole story and he couldn't discover what it was.

''When I came back, the whole place was empty. At first, I thought thieves had raided the shrine and killed everyone but I didn't see any marks of a battle or corpses, so I discarded this option. I searched everywhere but nothing valuable seemed to be gone, everything was still there, except the mikos.'' Kagome said, frowning as she recalled how confused she was on that day.

''I decided to leave and search for you, the empty shrine unsettled me and I didn't enjoy being alone, I should've stayed there…'' She gulped, and Sesshoumaru noticed the change in her expression and the fear that suddenly clung to her skin.

Kagome moved to look at Sesshoumaru, silently asking for support, and his eyes softened slightly when he noticed this. Nodding at her, he patiently waited until she gathered her thoughts and spoke again. ''I met a few of Onigumo's men on the road, they decided they needed some female company and took me to their master. I've been Onigumo's slave for a little more than a year until I managed to escape.''

''Dear Kami!" Kikyou whispered as her eyes went wide and her face paled, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

''I met Shippo there and took care of him, while I was running from Onigumo's men, I found Rin and she helped me,'' Kagome spoke, a small smile on her face as the little girl suddenly hugged her.

Kikyou, though still in shock at the revelation, paid attention to what her friend was saying. She heard the rumors about Onigumo, he was ruthless and many claimed that once he raided the villages and burned the houses down, he took every single survivor and made them work for him until they became too weak to be useful anymore and were killed.

''I couldn't leave Kagome-chan alone! She was tired and weak, and yet, she tried to protect Rin-chan from the bad men!" Rin spoke, making the slayer look at her with soft eyes.

''That was very brave of Kagome-sama.'' She spoke and Kagome smiled.

''I couldn't leave two kids to die because of me, I wouldn't be able to rest in peace. Luckily, Sesshoumaru-sama saved us!" Kagome spoke, smiling brightly at the daiyoukai, who simply shook his head at her, as if silently saying that what he did was nothing really important.

The monk and the slayer watched the exchange with curiosity. They both, though appalled at what had happened to the miko, didn't dwell on the thought of what she had been through while in Onigumo's possession and instead, decided to focus on what she was saying.

Both of them noticed how she seemed to hesitate before speaking about this subject and how her eyes searched the daiyoukai's ones for support. The look of pure gratitude she had when she smiled at the Western Lord after saying he had saved her made the slayer and the monk wonder if the rumors they heard about him were true.

They had never met the inuyoukai before, the only things they had heard about him came from InuYasha, who had a biased opinion that involved being him shunned by society with the influence of his brother and disliked for only being born. The slayer knew the world what merciless with hanyou and that most youkai disliked them, but the human-hating image of Sesshoumaru that InuYasha had created in their minds simply didn't match with what she was seeing.

How could he be a cold-hearted bastard when it was clear that both human girls searched for him for support? If he truly hated humans, she doubted he would even bother to keep the two of them around him.

InuYasha, hearing the good deed Sesshoumaru had done, scoffed. ''I bet the asshole had an ulterior motive to do this, he wouldn't be able to save a bug unless he wanted something from it. He's a heartless and bloodthirsty bastard! ''

''You call him bloodthirsty and yet, you were the one who attacked us without a reason,'' Kagome said, not forgetting what he did earlier.

''Seeing the asshole is already a reason to attack, the bastard is always trying to kill me just because I'm half human!" InuYasha snapped back and Kagome glared at him.

''I didn't see Sesshoumaru-sama do anything against you ever since we came here, he only defended himself from your stupid attacks. And even if you want to kill him, that is not my problem, there was no reason to attack me too.'' She spoke, raising an eyebrow at the hanyou's annoyed expression

''Anyone that stays on that bastard's side is worth dying!" InuYasha growled and Kagome narrowed her eyes at him.

''Even an innocent miko and two children that have nothing do to with your stupid sibling rivalry?'' Kagome snapped back.

''Listen here wench-'' InuYasha was about to snap when Kikyou grabbed him by one of his ears and painfully twisted it, making him scream in pain. ''What the fuck, Kikyou?''

''You will behave, InuYasha!" The miko snapped, twisting his ear one more time. ''Kagome is right, until now, Sesshoumaru-sama did nothing against you and you were the one who started this whole fight so don't you dare to call her a wench!"

''But-'' The hanyou tried to protest, but a single glare was enough to shut him up.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru watched the exchange with curiosity, who would've thought that a fragile looking miko like Kikyou would be able to tame the wild hanyou?

''You told Sesshoumaru-sama that Kikyou was the one you were searching for if I remember correctly,'' The monk spoke, making everyone turn to look at him. ''Why were you looking for her?''

''And why did you tell the Lord of the West about the Shikon? I recall you saying that she was the keeper, I thought this was a secret in the miko society.'' The slayer asked, confused.

She herself only knew about it because she had been born in the village where the jewel was once kept and her grandfather had been one of the men that were chosen to look over the keeper every once in a while. No one else knew about this besides a few slayers and priestesses, so why would this girl freely talk about it with a youkai?

''Almost a week and a half ago we faced some trouble,'' Kagome sighed, knowing they were suspecting her of being a traitor. ''One of Sesshoumaru's men had been badly hurt and they called me to heal him, when I arrived there, he explained that he got injured while trying to separate five youkai who were fighting over the fragments of the jewel.''

Pulling the necklace out of her kimono, Kagome held it for everyone see, briefly noticing that InuYasha's eyes widened at the sight of the shards. ''I had to explain why I knew about the shards to Sesshoumaru-sama, in return, he gave me them to protect.''

''Sesshoumaru? Giving away something that could make him more powerful?'' InuYasha snorted as soon as she finished speaking, it had to be the biggest bullshit he ever heard in his whole life. ''He is almost as power thirsty as Naraku, I doubt he would let the chance of getting the jewel slip away from him.''

''Unlike what you may think, little brother,'' Sesshoumaru finally decided to speak, making everyone turn to look at him with wide eyes. ''Power acquired with the help of a stupid jewel is of no use, I walk the path of supreme conquest and I will get more powerful by my own merit, not because of some cursed piece of marble.''

''Who's Naraku?'' Kagome decided to speak, noticing how tense the atmosphere had become once the Lord of the West had spoken, she could clearly see that InuYasha was about to explode and she didn't want to deal with him anymore.

''Onigumo's dead,'' The monk started to speak, making Kagome turn to face him so fast that her neck hurt from the abrupt movement. ''There are rumors that he was so evil that thousands of youkai wanted to take his soul. He freely offered it to them and in return, asked for the opportunity to live once again, thus becoming Naraku.''

''Dead?'' Kagome whispered, her eyes widening as she gripped the hem of her kimono tightly.

''Yes, rumors say that one of his buildings caught on fire and he got trapped inside.'' The slayer spoke, and after her words finally sunk into Kagome's mind, she smiled darkly at them.

''I did it,'' She said before she burst out laughing. ''Dear Kami, I really killed him!''

''You what?'' Kikyou asked, completely confused.

She could see brief flashes of the girl she knew but this Kagome in front of her was almost a completely different person. The twisted smile she had on her face now was almost enough to make Kikyou believe she had lost her sanity while she was in Onigumo's possession.

''His building didn't get on fire, I did it.'' The miko said as her laughter became a soundless chuckle. ''He tried to kill Shippo that day, I snapped when I saw him with a blade close to my son's throat and attacked him with the closest thing in reach.'' She said, pulling the small kitsune closer to her body as if reassuring herself that he was really there.

''The thing happened to be a torch and I didn't think I was going to survive so I decided that if I was going to die, I would take Onigumo with me too and set his clothes on fire.'' Kagome shrugged, in that moment she realized she had really accepted her death in the past and wondered what had happened to the girl full of hopes she once was.

''It was bound to happen, sooner or later someone would have gotten tired of his actions and hired an assassin to deal with him.'' Sesshoumaru simply said once he noticed the shocked look the others had on their faces.

''I never thought I would agree with the asshole but he's right, I had heard a few rumors about one of the human Lords hiring a youkai assassin to kill Onigumo a few days before the news of him dying were spread,'' InuYasha said, shrugging too.

Kikyou, still shocked by everything she heard today, nodded before her expression hardened and her eyes narrowed. ''Naraku was Onigumo, so that means a part of him still lives. We can't let him get the jewel, there are rumors that he plans on collecting all the shards to wish to be a full demon.''

''I see,'' Kagome muttered, then after taking a look at Rin, that was almost falling asleep, she decided that they needed a break. ''Now that we discussed a part of what we needed to, how about we rest?''

* * *

 **To the one who asked for how long Kagome had been a slave, here's the answer! She lost the track of time while she was there and didn't know, that's why it wasn't mentioned before. You guys will see more of her past in the next chapter, see ya!**


	12. Blue

**Chapter 12 - Blue**

Kagome yawned as she stretched, even though she hadn't trained with Sesshoumaru yesterday, her body was still sore. He didn't go easy on her and this gave her the confidence that maybe she wasn't that bad in fighting after spending a whole year without training.

She carefully got up, not wanting to wake Rin and Shippo, who were cuddling with Ah-Un, and started to walk through the woods until she found the river she had seen on the night before. Splashing some water on her face and pushing the images of her dream away, the miko decided that she was awake enough and looked around, trying to find something to eat.

Once she spotted an apple tree, she got up and started to pick a few of them, making sure she had enough to feed everyone, even Ah-Un, and Jaken. Humming as she walked back to where her companions were, Kagome couldn't help but think about the events of yesterday.

Kikyou had easily accepted her back, hugging her and claiming that she would never let Kagome out of her sight again. Her companions were also nice, the slayer was strong yet gentle and the monk kind and wise, though Kagome thought he was way too nice sometimes. InuYasha was different, while the hanyou could be annoying and harsh, Kagome believed he had a friendly and good side, otherwise, Kikyou wouldn't speak so highly of him.

They still needed to decide what to do, part of Kagome wanted to search for the jewel with Kikyou, since it had been partially her fault, but the bigger half of her didn't want to leave the shiro. She had grown used to Shippo and Rin playing around her, she would miss being their teacher, and she admitted she would even miss Jaken's annoying voice and Sesshoumaru's quiet presence, as well as Ah-Un's sweetness.

Ah-Un was a loving and caring beast, she never expected a dragon to be so nice to the point of letting kids sleep on him just because he was warm, she had heard tales about them being bloody thirsty beasts and they couldn't be more wrong. Taking a bite of her apple, Kagome realized that she should just stop listening to rumors, most of them were false and only served to stain one's reputation.

Looking around, Kagome noticed that Rin and Shippo were still asleep, just like Jaken. Walking to where the toad was, she put an apple next to his hand and moved to do the same with the children, then she fed Ah-Un, who was already awake.

Frowning when she didn't see the daiyoukai, Kagome looked around and saw a part of his white fluff behind a tree, and deciding to follow it, the miko quietly walked until she saw him resting against a rock with his eyes closed. Biting her lip, Kagome tip-toed and when she was about to put an apple next to his hand, his eyes snapped open and she squealed in surprise.

Raising an eyebrow at her, Sesshoumaru silently asked what the miko was doing and she huffed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. ''How did you know I was there?''

''I am a daiyoukai, miko,'' Sesshoumaru said, as if the answer was obvious, and Kagome pouted.

''Damn, I managed to surprise everyone but you.'' She muttered as she tossed the apple at him.

The daiyoukai caught the red fruit and raised another eyebrow at her, making Kagome feel rather stupid and annoyed with his behavior. ''Don't look at me like that, I didn't see you eat anything ever since we left and I was starting to get worried!"

''Miko, I a-'' Sesshoumaru tried to speak but Kagome interrupted him, rolling her eyes.

''Yeah, you are a demon, whatever,'' She muttered as she took a seat next to him. ''Jaken and Ah-Un are demons too but they eat.''

The look on Sesshoumaru's face clearly told her that her comparison had damaged his ego. ''I am a daiyoukai, I do not require food daily like Jaken and Ah-Un, who, while still youkai, are inferior in power to me.''

''I know but still," Kagome said as she pointed at his apple. ''I never saw you eat, even when I was at the shiro! Do you even eat at all?"

Once again, the look Sesshoumaru gave her made Kagome feel dumb. ''Of course, I eat,'' He even managed to sound slightly offended when he spoke. ''I simply do not require food as much as humans do.''

Narrowing her eyes at the stubborn daiyoukai, Kagome challenged him. ''Then prove it, eat the apple!"

By this point, Sesshoumaru wondered if the miko suffered from any mental issues and started to question his choice of putting her to be Rin's mentor. After a whole minute of staring at her with a blank look on his face, the inuyoukai realized she wouldn't back down until he did what she wanted.

He was taken back to the moment where he met his ward, remembering that she would stay sitting in front of him for hours, simply staring, while the fruits she brought would lay next to his feet. He eventually realized that the only way to make her leave would be eating what she gave him and wondered if this would work with the miko.

Looking at the human one more time, Sesshoumaru noticed that she was still there and sighed, it was like dealing with Rin all over again, except this human was older and had a deadly aim when it came to using a bow.

Raising the hand that held the apple, Sesshoumaru watched how Kagome's eyes followed his movement and decided to just do what she wanted. Bringing the fruit to his mouth, he bit it and watched a smile take over the miko's features, making him wonder how such a small action could make the woman so happy.

Quickly finishing his food, Sesshoumaru threw what has left away and raised an eyebrow at the miko, silently asking her if she was satisfied.

Smiling brightly at him, Kagome cheerfully spoke. ''Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

He almost felt like grimacing, Rin did the exact same thing whenever he ate what she got for him and he wondered for a second if his father was laughing at him from his grave. Maybe the humans had been sent by the ghost of his father, the miko and his ward were too much alike to be just a coincidence.

The wind blew softly and the daiyoukai closed his eyes, thinking that the miko would leave soon, he needed to gather all his patience before dealing with his half-brother again. The hanyou couldn't go on for a whole minute without spitting curses and simply being ignorant, Sesshoumaru saw how his eyes had widened at the sight of the shards around the miko's neck, and in that instant, he knew he would've to keep an eye out in case InuYasha tried to do anything.

When he heard that his brother had been helping a priestess he got suspicious, especially after said priestess affirmed that at first, InuYasha tried to steal the jewel. After seeing his reaction to the sight of the shards though, the inuyoukai had no doubt that his brother was either doing this to steal the jewel from the woman later, or they had some kind of agreement over what would happen when the Shikon no Tama was whole again.

Mentally scoffing, Sesshoumaru couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted by the hanyou's attitude, he accused the daiyoukai of wanting the jewel because of its power but at the same time, he was the one who wanted it, probably to become a full blooded demon.

InuYasha was still a hypocrite even after all those years, and that made the older demon wonder if he would ever grow up and be responsible.

Holding back a snort, Sesshoumaru realized that putting InuYasha and responsible in the same sentence just didn't match, it would never happen.

''Sesshoumaru-sama?'' A quiet voice shook him out of his thoughts, making his eyes widen slightly in surprise.

Turning to look at the source of the disturbance, Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow when he saw that the miko was still there. This was new, Rin usually skipped off to collect flowers by this point.

''Have you ever failed to remember something that you never thought you would forget?'' She asked, her voice no louder than a whisper, and Sesshoumaru frowned in confusion.

''I do not understand what you mean, miko.'' He spoke, noticing the faraway look she had in her eyes.

''When I was there, I was locked away,'' She mumbled, turning her face to look at the sky with a lost expression. ''I spent most of my time locked in a small room with other women sewing kimonos for the men to sell, the rest of the day I was either being beaten for not being able to sew the quantity they wanted or sleeping in a cell without a window.''

The daiyoukai didn't say anything, merely continued to stare at her, wondering why she chose to tell him this but reasoning that she just needed to let it go. Past experiences with his mother taught him to just listen without saying a word when a female started to speak out of the blue.

''One day, while I tried to remember a few happy moments of my childhood, I realized that I forgot most of it,'' Kagome spoke, biting her lip. ''I didn't remember the faces of the ones that I used to play and train with, I didn't know what I liked to do anymore or what my favorite toy was, and I started to get scared.''

''The breaking point was the day where I woke up from a black and white dream and realized that I couldn't remember how blue the sky was.'' The miko said, now turning to look at him with a scared look on her face. ''I was terrified, I knew it was blue but I couldn't remember what blue was, I started to lose what was left of my sanity that day. I saw many slaves lose it while I was there, their screams and cries kept me up all night sometimes, and when the soldiers came, I knew they were far too gone to be brought back to reality.''

''Some tried suicide, not wanting to deal with Onigumo's men for one last time. I've seen many people vanish into the darkness of their minds, I just never thought I would be one of them.'' Kagome shakily spoke, gripping the hem of her kimono tightly.

''After realizing that I didn't know how the color blue was anymore, I had a mental breakdown. I tried to remember small details, like what my favorite flower was or how the sky looked at night, but I failed miserably.''

Sesshoumaru truly didn't know what to do, no one had prepared him for a situation like this one, not even his ward's past had been this dark and twisted. In the back of his mind, he wondered how not knowing how to react had become something quite common when dealing with the miko, but he decided to focus on this later when the woman kept speaking.

''I was frightened of myself in that moment, I was exhausted and I had no more strength left, I was lost and unable to cry out,'' She said, her voice wavered for a second, and in that moment Sesshoumaru knew exactly what she was going to say next. ''I was going to commit suicide, I didn't care about finding my friends and the others anymore, I just wanted to be free from the hell that my mind was.''

The fact that he knew what she was going to say didn't ease his shock at her words, the daiyoukai would never be able to imagine her life had been like this, the happy façade she put on every day was too convincing to make anyone think it wasn't real.

''On the day I was going to do it, Shippo was thrown at my cell,'' Kagome said as she chuckled dryly. ''When I saw him there, weak and afraid, I realized that I couldn't traumatize him anymore and decided to take him under my wing. He always says that I saved his life but the truth is, he saved mine. He gave me a reason to keep fighting, to hope again.''

After a few seconds of silence, Sesshoumaru realized that the woman was fighting to keep her tears at bay and sighed. ''The sky, is this the reason why you always seem so fascinated by it?''

Nodding, Kagome smiled shakily at him and Sesshoumaru couldn't help but compare her to a tiny bird with a broken wing, she seemed as fragile as one, ready to break down. Taking one more look at her, he allowed his mokomoko-sama to encircle the miko's body, much like he did to Rin when she was upset, and watched as her eyes widened in surprise.

Sighing, he realized that though she had moved her hands to hug his pelt closely to her body, hiding her face on it, she still seemed upset and he could smell her tears in the air.

Remembering what his mother used to do to him when he was a child, Sesshoumaru moved his hand to pat the miko's head softly and tried to make her come back to normal. ''The past stays in the past, Kagome, do not think about what is already gone and focus on the present, otherwise, you might fail to notice something of considerable importance. What you did and what you could have done point to just one end, the present, and it would be a waste to watch it fly away while you drown in memories of who you once were.''

Eyes widening when she heard those words, Kagome nodded shakily and proceeded to cry softly as she hugged the soft white fur of the thing that Sesshoumaru always carried around. Sniffling, the miko suddenly realized one thing.

The mighty Lord of the West had tried to comfort her.


	13. Belonging

**Chapter 13 – Belonging**

''Your place is with us Kagome, why can't you see that?'' Kikyou spoke, pressing her lips together.

''We don't need the wench, just get the shards and tell her to fuck off!" InuYasha barked, making the older miko turn to glare at him.

''Don't insult my sister!"

''Ladies and gentlemen, why don't we try to solve this situation without violen-'' Miroku tried to intervene but was interrupted by InuYasha's growl.

''I don't get why we need her anyway,'' He bit out, making Kikyou's face turn into an angry shade of red. ''She's useless to us, just get the damned jewel and let's get going!"

''My mama isn't useless, mutt!" Shippo shouted, throwing a pebble at the hanyou's face.

''Do not think that this Sesshoumaru will let you get the shards he found on his territory, half-breed.'' The inuyoukai, fed up with his brother's stupidity, decided to speak.

''I really don't think shouting will solve anything guys-'' Sango tried to speak too, but InuYasha's voice drowned the rest of her sentence with his shout.

''Throw another fucking rock at me and I will kill-'' His rant was interrupted by yet another pebble hitting his nose, making his eyes twitch in annoyance. ''You little brat, I'm going to-''

''You're not going to do anything with my son, hanyou!" Kagome snapped, hugging Shippo close to her body as she glared at Kikyou's companion.

Today, she decided, was not a good day.

First of it all, she had a mental breakdown caused by the nightmare she had last night and cried in front of the Western Lord, making her feel rather pitiful once she realized she was sobbing on his white pelt.

Then she realized she needed to decide what she would do from now on but she simply couldn't make up her mind and ended up with a migraine. Lastly, when she finally realized that she simply couldn't leave her new life behind in order to chase shadows of a past relationship, she found herself in an argument with Kikyou, who simply couldn't understand that there was nothing left for her besides living with her son in the West.

There were many reasons as to why traveling with Kikyou wouldn't work, the first one obviously being the annoying hanyou dressed in red, which seemed to hate her guts and didn't lose the opportunity to insult her. There was also Shippo, who wouldn't be able to travel with her, and Rin, who she had become greatly attached to.

Kagome would miss Ah-Un's sweet company, as well as Sesshoumaru's quiet one, and she even admitted to herself that she would miss Jaken's complains about her being too slow as they traveled. She also couldn't forget that she swore loyalty to the daiyoukai and couldn't simply walk away whenever she felt like, if he required her presence, she would need to stay.

In the back of her mind, Kagome was almost hoping that Sesshoumaru would play the heartless demon and order her to stay in front of everyone just to avoid listening to the arguing anymore, she was sure her head was about to explode.

''It's because of you that she doesn't want to stay!"

''Oi, how is this my fault?''

''Kagome-chan won't leave, she likes living with Rin-chan and Sesshoumaru-sama!"

''You're insulting her, it's obvious she won't want to stay!"

''I'm not insulting the wench, I'm describing her and- Ouch! I'm going to fucking kill you, you stupid kitsune!"

''InuYasha, don't curse in front of the children!"

''Stop bad-mouthing my mother, mutt!"

''You're fucking dead once I get my hands on you-''

''Guys, I think it would be better if we all just stopped to take a deep breath-''

''We should let Kagome-sama decide, it's her life after all and-''

''Why are we even trying to bring the wench with us? Just get the shards and-''

''Shut up!" Kagome suddenly screamed, making everyone turn to look at her with wide eyes. ''I'm tired of listening to this, I'm staying with Sesshoumaru-sama, I can't simply leave them behind like this!"

''Great, now give us the shard!" InuYasha spoke, extending his open hand in front of Kagome, who glared at him in return.

''You can't leave them behind but you can leave me behind?'' Kikyou spoke, her lips pressed into a thin line and her eyes showing how hurt she was. ''Are you really going to leave me for the daiyoukai?''

''Don't you dare!'' Kagome snapped when she heard the hate in Kikyou's tone of voice. ''Don't you dare to say this again, if it wasn't for him I would be dead right now! Dead! You would have never seen me again, can't you understand that?''

Kikyou's eyes suddenly became cold, making Kagome sigh in defeat as she tried to think about a way to make her see that she wasn't leaving her to live with demons. When she met the miko, it had been hard to try to make her see that not all youkai were evil. Kikyou, being the next in line to protect the jewel, had been taught since she was very little to hate youkai.

Kagome had been raised differently, while most mikos in the shrine harbored the same hatred for demons, Kaede-sama was different. She taught Kagome that there were bad humans and youkai alike, and told her to follow her heart when it came to deciding who she should trust, making Kagome believe that there were good demons in this world.

There was a lot of controversy in the shrine because of the way Kaede raised the younger miko, but the woman always claimed that Kagome was special and shouldn't be treated like the others, and that was proven when the girl managed to surpass everyone in power at the age of fifteen.

''I don't want to fight with you,'' Kagome sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. ''But do not force me to stay. I will keep collecting the shards I find in the West, we can meet every once in a while, but I can't stay here, I have obligations now and I can't simply leave everything behind.''

''Of course, but I can be left behind.'' Kikyou spat as she got up, making Kagome flinch slightly when she saw her friend turning to walk away.

Huffing, InuYasha got up too, muttering something about stupid mikos and stubborn wenches, leaving only the monk and the taijiya there.

''Kami, when did she become so unreasonable?'' Kagome sighed as she hid her face in her hands, tired of arguing.

''Don't blame Kikyou-sama,'' Miroku spoke softly, trying to appease the situation. ''She always spoke to us about you, and there were a few times she cried in fear of never being able to find you again.''

''She misses you and doesn't want to see you disappear again,'' Sango spoke, smiling slightly. ''She's just scared, give her time and she will understand, try to make a deal with her.''

''What kind of deal?'' Kagome sighed, petting Shippo's fur and watching as the small neko youkai the taijiya had as her companion moved to rub herself on Rin's leg.

It was funny, a demon exterminator had a youkai as a partner in battle, Kagome wondered how they had found each other since neko youkai were known for keeping as much distance as possible from humans.

''Maybe promise you will visit her every once in a while, stay in touch,'' Miroku said, shrugging. ''Just assure her that you won't disappear again.''

''It's not like I wanted to be kidnapped and turned into a slave, she's acting like it's my fault!" Kagome groaned, glaring at nothing in particular until her eyes met the daiyoukai's ones.

''You!'' She said as she pointed her finger at him, making him raise an eyebrow. ''Do something, don't just stay there looking bored and help me!"

''And what exactly do you want this Sesshoumaru to do, miko? The girl is your problem, not mine.'' He simply answered, making Kagome narrow her eyes at him.

''I don't know! Use your influence and say that you need me to take care of Rin, that way she'll stop complaining, I doubt she would dare to argue with you.'' She spoke, making him raise his eyebrow yet again.

''It's your life miko, not mine.'' The daiyoukai simply answered, turning to face the sky once again and ignoring the girl. ''This Sesshoumaru has said it before, there is always a choice.''

Kagome's eyes widened slightly as he repeated his words, and she suddenly felt guilty for wanting him to make the decisions for her.

''I'm sorry.'' She muttered, then sighed as she gave up on trying to think about what she should do.

''May I ask the reason why you don't want to go with Kikyou, Kagome-sama?'' Sango spoke, making Kagome smile slightly.

''I already told you two to drop the sama, I feel uncomfortable, just call me Kagome.'' She spoke and Sango nodded.

''Okay, Kagome, can you answer my question?''

''It's just that-'' The miko tried to speak but struggled to find the right words. ''When I was running away I thought that even if I managed to escape Onigumo's men, I wouldn't have a place to go. I had no family, the shrine was empty and the priestesses were gone, what was left for me? I thought I would have to start stealing food to survive, and then Rin-chan and Sesshoumaru-sama appeared.''

''When I woke up in the shiro I was confused, but most people there were nice to me. When Sesshoumaru-sama appeared, I started to wonder when he would ask me to leave, I had no use for him and to make things worse, I was a miko in a building full of demons.'' Kagome bit her lip, frowning. ''I never expected him to offer me a place to stay so I grabbed the opportunity, it was like the Gods were giving me a second chance, I would be a fool to deny it.''

''I slowly got used to the shiro and surprisingly, just a few demons didn't like me, most of them were really nice and thanked me for keeping Rin in line,'' Kagome chuckled, watching Rin and Shippo chase Kirara around the field. ''When I was at the shrine, I never felt like I belonged there, you know? I just lived and did what they expected me to, but in the shiro was different. No one expected me to do anything and after living my whole life without being free, I finally was.''

''I understand,'' Sango spoke softly, smiling at the miko. ''It was the same in my village, I never really hated youkai but they expected me to kill them, so I did.''

''So the reason why you don't want to leave the shiro is that you fear to feel trapped again?'' Miroku asked, but Kagome shook her head.

''No, once the jewel is complete everyone will go back to their villages and start their lives from where they stopped. If I leave the shiro, where will I go once this is over? I don't want to feel like an outsider again, the West started to feel like home and I know I'm selfish but I don't want to leave it just yet,'' Kagome sighed, looking at the setting sun and suddenly feeling lonely. ''Maybe when Rin is older and married I'll have to leave, but I'm still needed there and I want to stay as much as I'm allowed to.''

''Foolish,'' Sesshoumaru spoke, turning away from his ward to face the miko. ''You have pledged allegiance to the House of the Moon, you will live in the West for as long as you want. There is no such thing as not being needed, stop being a fool, it is not a good example for Rin.''

Eyes widening, Kagome didn't know if she should feel offended for being called a fool or not. She tried to feel angry, she really did, but found herself unable to when his words reassured her so much, Kagome was slowly starting to realize that this was his way of comforting the others, with a kind of honesty so brutal that left no room for argument and somehow suited him perfectly.

''Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama,'' She spoke, smiling softly at him even though he had turned to face the woods again. ''I will do my best to make you and Rin proud, don't worry!"

''We can try to speak with Kikyou,'' The taijiya offered after watching strange the interaction between the miko and the daiyoukai. ''I'm sure that if she hears this, she will understand.''

''You just regained your stability and a sense of belonging, you're not being selfish for not wanting to leave it all behind.'' The monk reassured her, making Kagome smile as they both got up and wished them a good night.

As Rin and Shippo settled down to rest, Kagome looked at the stars and couldn't help but wonder what the sun would bring after rising yet again.

She could only hope it was comprehension from the one she considered as her sister.


	14. Whirlwind

**Chapter 14 - Whirlwind**

''You're not being fair to her, Kikyou,'' Miroku spoke, ignoring the way the miko glared at him.

''He's right, she just regained stability in her life and you want her to leave it all behind,'' Sango said, knowing her friend was being unfair. ''Don't be selfish, she lost everything she ever had and just recently found a place she could call home, don't force her to turn away from what could possibly be a happy future.''

''Happy?'' Kikyou snorted, not believing what she was hearing. ''Do you really think she could be happy living in the same place as InuYasha's brother? I thought you guys heard all the rumors and what InuYasha said about him! She can't be happy with someone as cruel as him!"

''Half-brother,'' InuYasha muttered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. ''It's the wench's choice anyway, who cares about what happens to her? Just get the shards and let's go!"

''I'm inclined to believe that she's happy with Sesshoumaru-sama,'' Miroku spoke, tilting his head to the right. ''Didn't any of you notice how she looks at him for support? She trusts him, and the little girl too, I don't think half of the rumors are true.''

''If you were there and heard what he said to her, you wouldn't think like this,'' Sango said. ''It's pretty obvious that Sesshoumaru-sama cares about both humans, even if it's just a little.''

''The only thing that prick cares about is his land.'' InuYasha scoffed, finding it hard to believe that his half-brother could care about anything else but power.

''She's a miko living in a place full of youkai, they're going to kill her!" Kikyou hissed, annoyed.

''She takes care of Sesshoumaru's ward, I doubt anyone would try to kill her since the girl is greatly attached to her,'' Sango spoke, shrugging.

''She also pledged allegiance to the House of the Moon, only Sesshoumaru can kill her if she brings dishonor to his name,'' Miroku spoke, looking pensive. ''I doubt he forced her to do this though, she must trust him if she offered her loyalty so freely.''

''Oh, I feel much better now knowing that only Sesshoumaru can kill her,'' Kikyou sarcastically spoke. ''That solves all of my problems, why didn't anyone tell me this sooner?"

''It's not hard to annoy Icicle though he doesn't show it,'' InuYasha spoke as he shrugged. ''He kills people for looking at him in the wrong way, I'm not sure the wench will survive for too long.''

''Thank you InuYasha, you surely are helping us a lot here!" Sango groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

''He's dangerous, we can't leave her with him!" Kikyou said, making Miroku groan in frustration.

''It's her life, leave her-'' He was about to finish his sentence when Kikyou's eyes suddenly widened and she got up, running to grab her bow. ''What's wrong?''

''A shard!" She shouted and in the same second, InuYasha grabbed her by her waist and started to run, leaving the monk and the taijiya to catch up with them.

Dodging the trees, InuYasha ran as Kikyou guided him through the woods. She got her bow ready and infused an arrow with her reiki, the shard wasn't that far and she needed to get it before it disappeared or anyone else arrived there. Miroku and Sango quickly caught up with them, sitting on Kirara's back, and after a while the trees disappeared, making them face a dozen wolves.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru were already there, a bow on her hand and a sword on his, while Rin and Shippo were flying on Ah-Un's back. Kagome noticed that the girl looked strangely afraid of the wolves and made sure to get her as far as she could from them, she would need to ask either Sesshoumaru or Jaken about this later since both of them looked protective of her right now.

''The shard isn't in any of them, Sesshoumaru-sama,'' Kagome spoke, frowning as she looked around. In a moment the shard was on her left and in the next one it was in a completely different place, leaving the miko confused. How could it be moving so fast?

''Show up now asshole! Stop hiding like a coward and come face us!" InuYasha shouted as he unsheathed his sword and Kagome watched it transform with wide eyes.

One by one, the wolves advanced on them and after spending a little while pushing them away, the hanyou quickly got frustrated. The wolves were just a distraction, it was useless to fight them and he decided to end the game.

Shoving Kikyou back, he prepared himself for the attack and with a quick move of his sword, unleashed the Kaze no Kizu, making half of the wolves be torn apart. Kagome's eyes widened, but not because of the powerful attack, instead, the one who possessed the shard became angry and his aura shifted, making her sense the second shard.

''He has two shards!" Kagome shouted, firing when a wolf suddenly dashed forward. ''Dammit!" Cursing when the youkai dodged her attack, Kagome threw herself on the ground and barely avoided being bitten.

Quickly putting a barrier around her, she threw her bow on the grass and made an annoyed sound when the wolf advanced on her again. He wasn't close enough for her to use a sword but not far enough to allow her to use her bow either, making her feel frustrated.

Narrowing her eyes, she watched as the demon circled her and concentrated on the spot behind it. An arrow made of pure reiki appeared and slowly started to follow the demon, which was oblivious to its surroundings, and Kagome stood still with a blank expression on her face. When she saw that it was going to attack her again, she narrowed her eyes and the arrow dashed forward, hitting the beast's back and making it turn to ashes right in front of her eyes.

Kagome picked her bow from the ground and backed away to a safe distance, noticing that Kikyou stood a few steps away from her and had a concentrated look on her face as she aimed and fired without taking a break. InuYasha was cutting the wolves into tiny pieces with his sword while the slayer and the monk fought together, Sesshoumaru was being surrounded by at least seven wolves and Ah-Un was spitting fire from where he stood, keeping the demons at a safe distance from the children.

Kagome wondered for a second where Jaken was, and wasn't really surprised to see him hiding in the branches of a considerably high tree, she could barely see his green form from where he stood and she scoffed. He dared to call her the useless one!

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that a wolf was going to attack and got her bow ready, just when the demon was about to lunge forward and she was going to fire, something happened. The youkai stopped suddenly and slowly started to back away from her, she eventually noticed that this happened with all of the wolves and wondered what was going on.

''What the fuck are they doing?'' InuYasha asked as he warily eyed the wolves, watching how they all seemed to gather around a certain spot and suddenly, a gust of wind hit their faces and they were forced to close their eyes.

Kagome was confused, before she closed her eyes she had been standing at Kikyou's side and now that she opened them, she was surrounded by wolves and they all eyed her like she was their favorite meal. Alarms went ringing on her head and she saw that standing a few steps away from her was a tall youkai, then her eyes widened when she felt both shards on his body.

Quickly scanning him, she saw the familiar glow of the shikon on his feet and was about to warn the others when a hand suddenly grabbed her chin, forcing her to stare at the ookami youkai.

''You shouldn't be able to sense the other shard,'' The youkai commented, his brown eyes narrowing as he stared at her. ''There's a barrier around it, how did you do it?''

''I'm a miko, we are trained to detect holy energy,'' Kagome answered, but he seemed dissatisfied.

''The girl back there, she didn't notice it, so why did you?'' The youkai asked, holding her face a bit too tightly for her liking and turning it from left to right as he examined her. ''Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter, you can sense the shikon and you aren't that bad looking for a human… I think you're good enough to be my mate, once we find all the shards, I'm going to be the most powerful youkai in the world and we will rule together.'' He said with a shrug, making Kagome's eyes widen.

''What?!" She shrieked, not being able to do anything because if she hurt him, she would be torn apart by all the wolves that surrounded her.

She pressed her lips together as she remembered what Sesshoumaru taught her, and as she looked around, she realized she was hopeless. There was no way she would able to run away when she was caged between a dozen wolves and a demon manhandling her, she also didn't have enough control to create an arrow for each one of them, and panic slowly started to take over her mind.

She tried to calm herself down, Sesshoumaru was there, not only him but Kikyou and the others too, no one would be able to do anything to her, but when she felt the youkai's arm encircling her waist and bringing her closer to his body, she lost it.

Kagome blanked out completely as images of the day Onigumo tried to have his way with her entered her mind and fear took over her body. She bit back a scream and closed her eyes tightly, she didn't feel her body moving, but in the moment she opened her eyes again, she had her dagger infused with reiki tightly pressed against the youkai's neck.

''Touch me again and be prepared to live without your hands, you filthy youkai!'' She bit out, her voice sounding strange even to her own ears.

She counted the seconds and waited for the moment where the wolves would tear her apart for hurting their alpha, and it was only then that she noticed her dagger wasn't the only thing pressed against the youkai's neck.

There was a sword too, with a really sharp and shiny blade, pressed close enough to draw blood, while her dagger only made a small burn as a warning. Following said weapon with her eyes, Kagome noticed that there was a pale hand attached to the hilt of the sword, and the magenta stripes on the wrist seemed strangely familiar to her.

''Touch her again and this Sesshoumaru assures you that your hands will not be the only thing you will be living without,'' A deep voice said as the blade was pressed tighter to the youkai's neck, drawing even more blood than before. ''If you manage to stay alive, obviously.''

Eyes widening, Kagome looked up and saw that the daiyoukai looked as bored as always, and she let out a relieved sigh when the youkai let her go. Quickly moving away, Kagome positioned herself behind Sesshoumaru and looked around only to see that all the wolves had backed away, the daiyoukai's aura overwhelmed them enough to force them into submission.

''Sesshoumaru? What are you doing here?'' The youkai asked, making the inu raise an eyebrow at him.

''This is my territory, or have you forgotten where the West is, Kouga?'' He answered, slowly removing his sword from the wolf's neck and watching him as he stood.

''We're already in the West? I was actually going to meet you, you could have introduced yourself more nicely, you know.'' The wolf groaned as he rubbed his neck, grimacing at the blood that kept flowing and now stained his clothes.

''You are as stupid as I remember,'' The daiyoukai spoke, making Kouga glare at him. ''I still do not understand how they chose you to be one of the four Lords.''

''I'll have you know that I take care of my lands properly, thank you!" The wolf huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

''Great, fleabag knows Icicle and they're friends…'' InuYasha muttered under his breath as he rolled his eyes.

''What do you want, mutt?'' The wolf barked, glaring at the hanyou.

''Why you- I'm going to fucking kick your ass!" InuYasha shouted as he stood in a fighting stance, making Kikyou sigh.

''Kouga, what do you want? And why are you in this Sesshoumaru's territory?'' The inuyoukai asked, ignoring the way the miko tugged the sleeve of his haori and peeked from behind his back.

''I'm not really sure if it's only happening with me, but lately, I've been having trouble with the ryu youkai,'' The wolf spoke, suddenly turning serious. ''They are invading my territory but not attacking anything, I feel like they're searching for something and that's getting rather annoying.''

''Indeed,'' Sesshoumaru muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly when he noticed that he wasn't the only one with problems. ''Their Lord assured this Sesshoumaru that they would be controlled, but I am inclined to believe that this will not be happening anytime soon.''

''I see, I'm glad that I'm not the only one with trouble here,'' Kouga muttered before shrugging. ''It was nice meeting you again Sesshoumaru, I'll have you informed if anything else happens.''

''What do you think you're doing by saying goodbye? Come back here and fight me, mangy wolf! I want the shards!" InuYasha shouted, waving his sword in the air like a child who demanded attention.

Moving a bit to the left so he could take a proper look at the girl that hid behind the Lord of the West, Kouga spoke while completely ignoring the hanyou. ''I will come back to you later, my woman! For now, I trust Sesshoumaru will keep you safe!"

''I'm not your-'' Kagome tried to speak, but before she could finish her sentence, a whirlwind took over the place and she was forced to close her eyes.

When she opened them again, the youkai was gone, leaving her gaping at the spot where he stood just a few seconds ago.

If you paid enough attention, you would be able to hear a certain hanyou muttering curses under his breath as he lamented the loss of two shards.

* * *

 **And our beloved wolf finally appears! Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!**


	15. Understanding

**Chapter 15 – Understanding**

''Who the fuck was that guy? How could he fucking run like that?'' InuYasha cursed as he sheathed his sword, glaring in the direction Kouga had just disappeared.

''The Lord of the Eastern Lands, I wonder how you survived for so long without knowing this,'' Miroku spoke, shaking his head as he stared at his hopeless friend.

''Who cares about the East anyway? There're only dead plants and stinky wolves there, now wonder he dresses like shit.'' InuYasha grumbled, making Kikyou sigh.

Looking at where her sister stood, the older miko couldn't help but think that maybe she had been wrong when she spoke about the daiyoukai. Kagome was currently clinging to his haori and she could see even from the distance that the younger miko was shaking, making her wonder what had really happened to her when she disappeared, the Kagome she used to know would never get so affected by what happened.

''Breathe, miko,'' Sesshoumaru spoke once he noticed that the human was still shaking in fear. ''The danger is gone.''

Sighing mentally when the only answer he got was the miko stepping closer to him and tightening her hold on his haori, Sesshoumaru wondered if his father was amused, he certainly started to pay all of his sins in the moment the two humans stepped into his life.

When he saw Kouga and his pack surrounding the miko, he thought she could handle herself, one single barrier or a simple burst of her reiki would easily free her from the youkai, but that wasn't what happened. Instead, the scent of fear clung to her skin and he could feel her despair in the air, suddenly reminding him of what had happened the last time males had surrounded her.

Her fear tainted the air and he could hear the kit and his ward crying, which led him to curse his father and the Gods before he expanded his aura and forced the wolves into submission. He stood by her side in a heartbeat, and before he could notice, she had put the dagger on the ookami's neck exactly how he had taught her, making him think that she wasn't that useless at all.

Helping her had a negative side though, because right now she refused to let him go and he could smell the tears that wanted to fall from her eyes. The fact that she was still shaking annoyed him, and when he saw that not even Rin or Shippo could snap her out of her current state, he ordered them both to back away as he grabbed her shoulder.

''Miko, look at this Sesshoumaru.'' He ordered as he lightly shook her, but the only answer he got was a pitiful whimper.

''Mama?'' The kit muttered as he tried to step forward but Rin held him by his haori, shaking her head silently.

''Miko…'' Sesshoumaru spoke again and sighed when she completely ignored him. She was far too gone into her own mind and he saw himself being forced to use more extreme methods, like shaking her one more time before he held her chin.

Forcing the miko to look at him, he saw that she was barely holding herself together and his eyes softened slightly at how fragile she looked. ''Kagome,'' He started, noticing that her eyes had widened slightly when she heard her name, it was a start. ''They are gone, there is no need to worry right now.''

''I-'' The miko tried to speak, but it was like her voice had left her.

''You are safe,'' Sesshoumaru tried again, noticing that she was responding to him. When he saw that she wanted to protest though, he raised an eyebrow and spoke. ''Or do you not believe in this Sesshoumaru's ability to keep the ones under his protection away from the danger?''

''No!" Kagome finally spoke, her eyes widening when she realized what he had just said.

''No? Are you saying that this Sesshoumaru is incapable of protecting you?'' The daiyoukai inquired, pleased that the miko was finally coming back to her normal state.

''No! Wait, I mean-'' Kagome struggled to find the right words and when she saw the amused glint in his eyes, she pouted. ''Stop staring at me like that, you're being mean!"

''Indeed,'' The daiyoukai said as he let her chin go, noticing with amusement how she reacted when she finally noticed she had been holding onto him.

Blushing, Kagome let him go and realized that lately, she had been embarrassing herself way too much in front of the daiyoukai.

''Mama, are you okay?'' She heard a quiet voice asking and turned to face her son.

Smiling, she kneeled in front of him and hugged the boy, patting his back in a reassuring way. ''Mama is alright, she was just a little surprised with what had happened.''

''Kagome-chan doesn't need to be scared, Sesshoumaru-sama always keeps Rin safe!" The little girl said as she smiled and Kagome chuckled, bringing her into a hug too.

''Kagome-chan was just a bit out of shape and got surprised, I know nothing will happen while Sesshoumaru-sama is with us." The miko spoke, and she could faintly hear someone scoffing from the distance. She didn't need to think much to know that it had been InuYasha.

''Can we eat now?'' Shippo asked as he eyed his mother with hopeful eyes and she smiled, nodding.

She had been in the middle of preparing the breakfast when she felt a shard coming in her direction at an impressive speed and warned Sesshoumaru of it, who told her to stay in guard. What she didn't expect though was a whole pack of ookami youkai suddenly surrounding them and making Rin panic, which led her to run and put the girl in a safe place before returning to focus on the shikon.

Looking at the little girl now, Kagome was relieved to see that she was fine and made a mental note to ask Sesshoumaru what had happened with her once they were alone, Rin had never looked that hopeless before.

''Kagome?'' Kikyou's soft voice called her attention and she turned away from the children to face the woman.

''Yes?''

''Can I speak with you?'' The older miko asked and Kagome wondered if she was going to walk away from this conversation with yet another headache.

''Sure, just let me prepare the food.''

* * *

After being sickened to her stomach as she watched InuYasha's eating habits, Kagome gave up on eating her fish and decided that it was a great time to talk to Kikyou. She really couldn't understand how her sister had come to travel with him, her other companions were nice and friendly but the hanyou was nothing but harsh and impulsive, things Kikyou hated with passion from what she remembered.

The strange thing wasn't only this, Kagome had noticed how her sister would glance at him sometimes and even though she tried to tell herself she was imagining things, she couldn't deny that Kikyou had a certain lovesick expression whenever she looked at InuYasha.

''So, mind telling me how you found yourself liking someone as idiot as InuYasha?'' Kagome said once they had taken a seat next to a stream.

''He's not an idiot,'' Kikyou muttered, but once she saw the blank look Kagome had on her face, she sighed. ''Well ,maybe he is but still!"

Scoffing, the blue-eyed miko spoke. ''Still? From what I remember, you hate impulsiveness and loud people, so please explain what happened.''

''It's just that he was really nice… After he tried to decapitate me twice while trying to steal the Shikon.'' The last part was nothing but a whisper and Kagome scoffed again, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

''Don't give me that look!' Kikyou defended herself, narrowing her eyes. ''The heart wants what it wants, it's not my fault that it chose a dumbass with a really sweet side!"

''I fail to see the sweet side, dear sister.'' Kagome snickered, making Kikyou pout like a little child who had been denied her favorite dessert.

''You're meaner than what I remember, it must be that toad's influence.'' Kikyou mumbled, making Kagome giggle.

Jaken, after coming down from his hiding place, had shamelessly acted as if he had been attacked by a wolf and dragged away into a ruthless fight for his life, which was simply stupid because he should have at least a scratch and a few parts of his clothes torn if this was true. Once he noticed that Kagome had rolled her eyes at him, he became defensive and started bickering with her, which led everyone else to watch the scene with amusement, it wasn't every day that you saw a small demon and a priestess arguing and screaming at each other.

The fun part of the day ended too soon though, with Sesshoumaru knocking Jaken out with a pebble and claiming that the toad's voice was giving him a headache, which led Kagome to be slightly disappointed because she still had a few good insults to throw at the annoying youkai.

''After living with Jaken for more than a week, you need to adapt,'' She commented, amused. ''It's the survival of the fittest, you either become meaner than him or suffer from his comments and screams.''

''It sounds lovely,'' Kikyou grimaced, then suddenly became quiet, making Kagome dread her next words. ''What really happened with you, my dear?''

''Too much, way too much,'' Kagome sighed, smiling sadly at her. ''But I don't want to think about the past, I just want to enjoy the present while I can.''

''I missed you,'' Kikyou muttered, making Kagome sigh. ''Are you sure you'll be fine with the daiyoukai?''

Kagome could see the tears forming in her sister's eyes and her heart clenched in pain, it had been so long since they last saw each other, so much had changed and she was hopeless to try to catch up with time. She wished Kaede had never sent her away, or that she had changed routes and went for Kikyou's village instead of going back to the shrine, so much pain would have been spared then.

Sighing, Kagome tried to stop those thoughts, and she heard Sesshoumaru's voice in the back of her mind scolding her for lamenting about what had already happened instead of focusing on the present.

''He's not that bad,'' Kagome said as she pulled Kikyou into a hug, determined to make out the most of this talk. ''Honestly, half of the rumors aren't even close to the truth. Don't let him hear that, but he's actually pretty nice.''

''Nice?'' Kikyou scoffed. ''I would say terrifying and emotionally constipated, but whatever works for you.''

Kagome couldn't help but burst out laughing once she heard this, it was an accurate description of the demon lord and she hoped they were far enough so he couldn't hear, or else she would be dead by the time she tried to explain the situation.

''That was a good one,'' Kagome giggled, watching Kikyou laugh too. ''But I really can't say he's bad when he treated me so nicely, he may not be my friend but he tolerates my presence and believes in my word, it's much more than what I could ask of a Lord.''

''Do you trust him?'' Kikyou asked and Kagome nodded.

''As strange as it sounds, I do.''

''Then I won't get in your way, but you have to visit me!" Kikyou spoke and watched a smile bloom in her sister's face.

''Thank you so much!" Kagome squealed, tackling the older miko in a hug. ''I promise I'll always come to see you, whenever I'm free, okay?!"

''Okay, but if you take too long I'll send InuYasha to get you.'' Kikyou snickered, making Kagome cringe and suddenly pull away.

''Dear Kami, no! I don't think I'll eat for a good while after this morning, how you can deal with that every day?'' She asked, her stomach already feeling weird for remembering the scene.

Pieces of meat flying everywhere as he viciously bit the fish, as if the animal had not only offended him but his whole family and future generations too, until the inevitable happened and Kagome could only stare frozen in horror as a piece of the fish hit her forehead and fell into her lap, but not before another piece almost hit her cheek and she promptly gave up on trying to eat.

''You just get used to it after a while.'' Kikyou shrugged, laughing at her sister's expression. ''It wasn't even that bad, I remember that once a piece of meat flew directly into Miroku's mouth as he was going to bite his own food. The poor monk almost died from disgust, I thought he would puke because of how green his face looked like.''

Kagome was too horrified with the mental image she had of the situation to burst out laughing like Kikyou did, and this only made the other miko laugh harder.

''I still don't know how he's the brother of the Western Lord, they are scarily different,'' Kagome said after shaking her head, trying to change the subject and avoid feeling sick yet again.

''Their story is rather complicated, InuYasha still refuses to say anything about his family besides accusing his brother of being an asshole,'' Kikyou shrugged. ''I guess I'll just have to wait for another person to enlighten me.''

''Indeed,'' Kagome hummed. ''Now, how about you tell me what happened in the year I've been gone?''

''Only if you tell me how the life in the West is.'' Kikyou said and Kagome grinned, nodding.

For the rest of the day, both women stood next to the river, simply catching up on everything they missed while being separated from each other.

* * *

 **Happy New Year guys! I hope 2016 will be an even better year than 2015 was for us all, with wonderful opportunities and experiences! Thank you so much for your support, I promise to keep up with your expectations for the following chapters!**


	16. Kindness

**Chapter 16 – Kindness**

Kagome left Kikyou's group in the next morning, promising that she would visit her in the middle of every month and spend a few days there. Her sister seemed satisfied and Kagome bid everyone goodbye, receiving a glare from InuYasha for walking away with his precious shards, and wondering yet again how Kikyou tolerated his presence.

Speaking of the jewel, said monthly visit would mostly happen because of the shards. Kagome had put a barrier around them that would allow Kikyou to travel without being chased by insane youkai who searched for power, and since she didn't know how long her barrier would last, she decided that a month was good enough to check how her powers were holding.

Now, even though Kagome was yawning and probably should be asleep, she found herself unable to. Rin and Shippo were soundlessly sleeping, cuddled with Ah-Un, while Jaken snored loudly and woke Kagome for the third time already when she almost falling into a deep slumber.

Glaring at the annoying toad that slept close to the campfire, Kagome huffed and sat down, thinking about ways to get back at him for keeping her awake. She would make sure to get up earlier than him tomorrow, if she slept at all, and dump a bucket full of water on his stupid green face, oh yes, that seemed rather nice considering that the winter was arriving and the mornings were colder than usual.

An evil grin appeared on her lips as she imagined how annoyed Jaken would be, it was going to be priceless and she would have to make sure Shippo and Rin were awake, maybe they could even help her prank him. Yes, that sounded good, and just when Kagome was going to think about a good prank, a voice snapped her out of her cunning thoughts.

''Is there something wrong, miko?'' A deep male voice almost made her squeal in surprise and she turned around to see Sesshoumaru sitting with his back to a tree, she could barely make out his features in the dark but he seemed rather amused.

''Just think about ways to torture your loyal servant, my Lord.'' She muttered, glaring at said servant and envying how deeply he slept.

''Learn with the children to ignore the sound, with enough practice you will not mind it.'' He commented, making Kagome scoff.

''Doesn't it annoy you?'' Kagome asked, and frowned when she realized something. ''Coming to think of it, I never really saw you sleep.''

''This Sesshoumaru can go for weeks before his body requires rest,'' The daiyoukai simply said. ''But to answer your question, yes, I do sleep.''

''That must be pretty cool,'' Kagome commented, looking at him with wide eyes. ''Though I'm not sure if I would know what to do with all the free time, I would probably end up sleeping just to pass time and not become bored.''

''There are many things to do in the West, miko, and sometimes not even a whole day is sufficient.'' He answered, making her shrug, being a Lord surely sounded tiring.

They fell into a comfortable silence and it was then that Kagome realized she hadn't thanked him for helping her the day before, making her felt guilty. She had tried to search for him after talking to Kikyou but with everyone staring at her, she didn't feel comfortable enough to bring that subject up, it was better to pretend everything was okay, mostly for Shippo and Rin's sake, since they both spent the whole day trying to cheer her up.

Biting her lip, Kagome now was not only feeling guilty but restless too and sighed. Getting up, she walked to sit next to the fire, facing him, and looked at the ground as she spoke.

''I'm sorry.''

Raising an eyebrow, Sesshoumaru turned away from the stars to face the miko that now stood a few steps away from him. ''For?''

''Um, for yesterday,'' She answered as she fidgeted in place. '' I could've been more useful but when he touched me, it was like something snapped inside of me. Thank you for saving me, Sesshoumaru-sama.''

He stood silent for a while and Kagome wondered what was going through his mind, was he trying to find a nice way of saying that she was a nuisance? She surely felt like one now.

''It was of no consequence,'' The inu merely shrugged, as if it was no big deal. ''You reacted, though, and that is all that matters. You should consider speaking to Sakura about this subject.''

''…Did-Did it happen with her too?'' Kagome asked, fear lacing her scent yet again.

''It is not my place to tell, but she is female and might understand your fears better than I.'' He simply said, sparing a glance at her and watching how she calmed herself down with deep breaths.

''Thank you, my Lord,'' Kagome smiled softly at him, nodding and pushing away the thought that maybe the happy green eyed youkai went through the same things as her she would have time to think about this later. ''I promise I will find a way to repay your kindness.''

''Most would not use the word kind to describe this Sesshoumaru, miko.'' He spoke, raising an eyebrow at her and making her smile.

''Most are wrong.'' She simply answered, leaving him to ponder about what he said.

Sesshoumaru had been called many things during his life, most of them had a meaning that left many shaking in fear at the mere sight of him. Assassin, deadly, Killing Perfection, Destroyer of Life, cold-blooded, murderer, monster, and the list went on and on, he couldn't remember half of the names.

He was pretty sure though that no one had ever called him kind, in fact, most people would laugh if they heard this. The great Killing Perfection, kind? It had to be a joke.

Looking at the miko and seeing her smiling face though, Sesshoumaru couldn't help but think about it, was he really kind? It was never his intention to be when he helped her, he simply did not want to deal with two crying and frightened children, much less a sudden explosion of reiki that would most likely kill everyone.

He remembered what she said, how she had escaped from whom once had been her master, and he had no intention of being there when she turned into a bomb made of pure reiki ready to explode, helping her was simply easier for him.

''Hey, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' The miko interrupted his musings and he focused on her again, waiting for her to speak. ''Did something happen with Rin and the wolves? She seemed way too terrified of them, I never saw her like that before.''

Ah, there was also Rin. She was another one of the reasons why he helped the miko, his ward would be heartbroken if someone hurt the human while he was there, he had no doubt she would stop speaking to him for a while and her blind faith that he could protect everyone was touching, deep down he did not want to destroy this image she had of him.

''Rin was killed by wolves two years ago,'' Sesshoumaru spoke, watching how confused the miko became once she heard this. ''Tenseiga brings people back to life.'' He explained, putting his hand on the hilt of said sword, which hummed quietly in response.

Kagome's eyes widened when she saw him touching the sword she came to notice he never used, she had never been able to detect any kind of energy coming from it, while the other one cracked the air with youki whenever he unsheathed it.

''This is amazing…'' She whispered, not knowing what else to say.

Sesshoumaru didn't seem to care much about it though, since he simply shrugged in response. ''I have only used it once, it is not very useful to me.''

''Are you kidding?'' Kagome had to hold back a scream of indignation when she heard this. ''You can bring people back to life! Can't you understand that you have been blessed with such powerful gift?''

''This Sesshoumaru is known as the one who destroys life, miko, not the one who restores it.'' He answered her, making the human press her lips into a thin line.

''And yet, you brought Rin back and cared for her,'' She finally said. ''And in a way, you restored my life, saving Shippo's too, because without your help I would be dead right now.''

Frowning slightly, Sesshoumaru realized that she was somehow right and stored this thought in the back of his mind, he would ponder about it later, when he was alone and the miko was asleep.

Silence filled the atmosphere and he could see the miko fidgeting in place and looking uncertain as she stared at him, making him sigh once he realized she wanted to speak but seemed reluctant. ''Ask miko, this Sesshoumaru cannot read your mind.''

She did not want to be seen as a nuisance, but since he told her to ask, she grabbed the opportunity. It wasn't every day that one could have a normal chat with the Killing Perfection, and she was determined to make out the most of it.

''It's just that I've wondered how you came to care for Rin, she seems really attached to you and it's a bit weird to think that the merciless Lord of the West allows a human child follow him around.'' She asked, biting her lip and hoping he wouldn't glare at her for being too intrusive.

''She cared for this Sesshoumaru before her death.'' His answer only left her even more confused and he realized that the sooner he told her what she wanted to know, the sooner she would stop staring at him with her oddly bright blue eyes in an unnerving way.

''I have been injured in a fight with InuYasha, where he also cut my arm off.'' He spoke and the miko's eyes widened as her jaw dropped, leaving her with a funny expression on her face.

''He what?!" She was unable to hold back her shriek this time.

''He did it while I was in the middle of my transformation, where we are left defenseless, the half-breed has no honor.'' He said, he could feel that she was rather annoyed but the feeling quickly faded away when she looked at him with curiosity in her eyes.

''How is your other form?'' She asked, looking exactly like Rin did when she heard about him being a giant dog.

''An inu, bigger than the mountain that stands behind you.'' He said, watching with amusement as she quickly turned to face said mountain and let out a sound of awe before she looked at him again.

''Can you show it to me someday?'' She asked, excitedly, and he almost scoffed, it seemed that human females had some kind of strange fascination with inuyoukai.

This was ridiculous, there was no way she would see him in his true form unless he was in the middle of a battle and she happened to be there, and yet…

''Maybe,'' He found himself saying, and cursed his mouth for not obeying his mind, who had allowed it to speak such nonsense?

His thoughts were forgotten though when she gave him a dazzling smile that fully reached her eyes, he could taste her happiness and excitement in the air and though he wanted to tell her that maybe in this case meant no, he found himself unable to destroy her bright mood.

''Thank you so much, Sesshoumaru-sama!" She squealed happily, very much like Rin did in this same situation, except his ward threw herself at him and the miko had a little bit more common sense and knew better than to do that.

He welcomed the silence that followed what she said and mentally sighed in relief, maybe now he could have some peace to ponder about the ryu invasion that seemed to be happening in the other lands too and-

''Why were you and InuYasha fighting, though?'' The miko broke his concentration yet again and he was close to really sighing, why couldn't she just leave him alone?

''You ask way too many questions, girl.'' He spoke and she smirked, making him narrow his eyes at her.

''We went from miko to girl, is that an improvement or are you trying not to kill me?'' She asked, feeling amused, and that annoyed him.

Hn, maybe he should sleep, his bad mood was probably due to the fact that the last time he had a decent rest was a month and a half ago. Killing the girl was an appealing idea, he was sure her blood would be delicious and he had never killed a miko before, but…

''Rin would be displeased.'' His answer only made her eyes shine even more with amusement, making him give up on trying understanding her.

''Indeed,'' Her tone was mocking him and his eyes narrowed, did the girl have a death wish? ''Since you don't want to answer my question, I'll just ask another one.''

There was a pause and the brief silence annoyed him even more. He glared at her, his gaze cold enough to freeze the whole ocean if he wanted to, she wouldn't dare to disobey his I-shall-kill-you-in-a-very-painful-way glare, right?

Apparently, she would, since she simply smiled brightly at him and seemed oddly satisfied with his reaction.

He sighed, deciding that tomorrow he would leave Jaken to look over them and fly away to somewhere peaceful, where priestesses weren't annoying and didn't ignore blatant death threats.

''You are insufferable,'' He spoke, and her smile only became bigger, irking him. ''I wanted to reclaim what was mine by right, now go annoy someone else.''

''What is yours by right? Did InuYasha steal something?'' She asked, tilting her head to the side and successfully looking like a curious pup. ''And no one else is awake right now, since I can't sleep either, you'll just have to deal with me.''

''This Sesshoumaru should just kill you to end this foolishness.'' The inuyoukai growled, making her eyes sparkle with laughter.

''Now, don't be a bad inu,'' She teased him, and he wondered when she had lost the fear of death. ''Rin would be sad, not to say traumatized, if she woke up to find pieces of my body scattered on the ground while you look rather pleased with your haori covered in my blood.''

''Then I only need to make sure she never sees the evidence of what happened.'' He said, and the insane human burst out laughing after trying to keep a straight face for two seconds.

''I really don't understand why they say you're emotionally constipated, you have a rather nice sense of humor.'' She commented, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

''It was not a joke, miko.'' The daiyoukai spoke but she simply waved her hand in the air, rudely dismissing what he had said.

By this point, Sesshoumaru was sure that she was either fearless or simply moronic. She not only talked to him like he was a common and mortal dog but dared to annoy him and even got to dismiss him, he dismissed people, the contrary had never happened before and this situation was just wrong.

Growling lowly as to not wake Rin, Sesshoumaru glared yet again and found that he needed to improve his intimidation skills, the miko didn't even bat an eyelash at the image of his annoyed self. She yawned and stretched, the fire behind her making her black hair look midnight blue and he found himself hoping that she would just go to sleep.

Smiling at him, Kagome spoke. ''Your presence bores me, my Lord,'' That earned her a growl. ''We shall continue this conversation later on, and don't think I forgot about the question you didn't answer!"

Turning her back to him, she crawled until she found a comfortable position next to the fire and laid down, turning to look at him one last time before smiling.

''Good night, Sesshoumaru-sama, thank you for entertaining me!''

As her heartbeat slowed down, Sesshoumaru found himself thanking the Gods for giving him a break and decided that after dealing with a deranged priestess, he very much needed a nap.

* * *

 **I love this chapter so much, their interactions are so cute! I also wanted to say that the reviews I got weren't showing up until now, I've had this problem since December so I'll answer them ASAP, it seems that there was a glitch and this was happening with other authors too. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, thank you very much for the lovely reviews, I've just read them and they made my day!**


	17. Sweetness

**Chapter 17 – Sweetness**

''…I don't think you should do this.''

''Don't disturb my master, you filthy humans!"

''Shut up Jaken, your voice is the loudest here!"

''…He's going to kill us…''

''I have no doubts about that…''

''Stop overreacting!"

''When did you learn to use such a fancy word?''

''Shhh, he's waking up!"

''Oh shit, run!"

Sesshoumaru's mind was foggy, everything was confusing and the random voices he kept hearing surely didn't help. Why was he so tired? Why was everything dark? Why could he smell something sweet close to him?

Groaning, the daiyoukai tried to remember the events of the past night and after his mind being blank for more than thirty seconds, he could almost hear the miko's endless questions again. So he had slept, that explained why his mind was foggy, the darkness was probably because his eyes were closed and he felt rather foolish for not realizing this sooner, avoiding sleep for that long wasn't good for him and he made a mental note to sleep at least once every two weeks.

Sleeping didn't explain why he smelled something sweet, though, and when he opened his eyes, he found his pack trying to pretend they were sleeping and failing miserably. The miko's heartbeat, as well as Jaken's, was irregular, a clear sign they were nervous, and Rin was stuffing her mouth with some berries and pretending she didn't exist.

The kitsune was shoving his face on the river as he pretended to drink water and Sesshoumaru realized that something was wrong when he looked at Rin and she coughed as she tried to hide her laughter. The miko now laid stiff on the ground and Jaken's heart was beating so fast that the daiyoukai wondered how he hadn't passed out yet, the kitsune looked ready to thrown himself into the water and happily drown.

Raising an eyebrow, Sesshoumaru's cheek itched a bit and he moved to scratch it, then he noticed that there was a strange weight on his head and frowned. Slowly lowering his head, the mighty Lord of the West blankly stared at what had fallen on his lap and the sweet scent suddenly made sense, as well as everyone's strange behavior.

Letting out a part of his youki as he narrowed his eyes at the offending object, he heard the miko let out a distressed noise as she hid her face with one of the pelts, which proved her guilty because there was no way she would want to be under the fur when the sun was still up.

Rin was doing a very poor job in hiding her face with her hands and she was getting red from trying to hold back her laughter, Jaken was looking a little pale from where he stood but it could simply be the sunlight on his face. The kitsune had run to hide on the tree right next to the river by now and he could hear the miko's curses from under the pelt she hid, making him scoff.

''Who did it?'' He asked, his voice sounding like a thunder in the silence of the field and Rin finally burst out laughing, falling to the ground as she clutched her sides.

Swallowing nervously, the miko peeked from her safe place and saw the inuyoukai raise an eyebrow at her, sending her straight back into the heated confines of the fur shield she created with a squeal. Jaken had passed out as soon as he heard his master's voice, the stress was too much for him to deal with, and now even Ah-Un seemed anxious as it tried to look at everything but the inuyoukai.

''One…'' Sesshoumaru started to count, and the miko suddenly got up from where she was and squealed as she stared at him. ''Miko.''

''Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' She innocently asked, but he could clearly see that she was trying to play dumb.

''Speak.'' He demanded, and gulping, she started to babble.

''What? Oh, did you notice how beautiful the sun is right now? It's almost done setting and you've slept for quite a while, leaving us a little bit worried. Rin wanted to wake you up but Jaken was being mean and I had to hit him in the head to shut him up, we just rested and played foolish human games while we waited for you to get up, my Lord. Did you rest properly? When was it the last time you slept? Are you feeling well? Are you sick? Can youkai get sick? I remember hearing about the case of a youkai who-''

''Miko!" Sesshoumaru barked, making her squeal yet again and he pinched the bridge of his nose, he could almost see his father rolling on the floor of his tomb right now, laughing at his expenses. If he heard another question coming out of her mouth, he was going to commit mass murder.

''Yes, my Lord!" She said, fidgeting in place as he got up, the offensive object on his hand, and walked to stand right in front of her.

''Who had the idea?'' He asked though he already knew the answer, such a thing was his ward's signature but he wanted to hear it from the miko's mouth.

After a whole minute of no answer, Sesshoumaru repeated the question and sighed when the miko refused to look at him. Resorting to more extreme methods, he decided to say her name, it had worked rather nicely last time.

''Kagome, tell me who did this.'' He asked, and succeeded in making her look at him instead of the ground.

''No, my Lord.'' She answered, and though he could smell her nervousness in the air, her back was straight and her posture was flawless.

Raising an eyebrow, Sesshoumaru spoke. ''Why not?''

''I refuse to betray someone I hold dear.'' She spoke, biting her lower lip, and Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly.

So the miko had honor, it was rather touching to see her protecting his ward like this, few were the ones who would risk their reputation with the Western Lord in order to protect a human child, and after giving her one of his worst glares, he dropped the offending object on her head.

''You are not allowed to take it off until I say so, miko.'' He spoke, watching as she touched the crown made of flowers he didn't bother identifying. ''Gather Jaken and let us move, we already lost too much time.''

* * *

Rin fell asleep on Ah-Un's back after walking for a while, her idea of putting flowers all over the daiyoukai proved to be a bad one and now he was dragging Kagome through the night and refused to stop to rest, claiming they had enough time to do it during the day.

She knew he was punishing her, though, and pouted when she saw that Shippo went to sleep too and left her alone to deal with a rather annoyed inuyoukai. Yawning, Kagome touched the flowers on her head and since he wasn't looking, decided to take it off to look at them, they were a better distraction than the shadows around her.

Pushing a little amount of her power through the plants, she watched as they shone healthily in pink before her reiki faded away. Not only Sesshoumaru had ordered her to wear the crown until he got bored and let it go, but he also said that she would be punished if the flowers died, so she used what Kaede had taught her and so far, she was doing a good job at keeping them alive.

Trying to remember what the older miko had taught her, Kagome's eyes widened when she noticed the flowers Rin had used to create the crown and ran to catch up with Sesshoumaru.

''Wait!'' She squealed as she tugged on his sleeve, making him slow down and raise an eyebrow at her.

''I told you to wear it until I felt avenged, miko.'' He spoke, making her roll her eyes as she held the flowers in front of his face.

''Can't you see it?'' She asked, waving the thing in front of his eyes.

''…Is there an insect on them?'' He asked, Rin quite frequently ran to beg his help to kill some bug and he honestly didn't understand how she didn't care about seeing dead bodies on the path they traveled but seemed irked by a small and inoffensive spider.

''No?'' Kagome frowned, confused. ''I'm asking if you can't see what these flowers mean.''

''This Sesshoumaru has more to do than to ponder about the meaning of a flower's short life.'' He answered and Kagome sighed, exasperated.

''And you say I'm the insufferable one,'' She muttered before she went to the more serious topic. ''What flower is this one?''

She pointed at a vibrant orange one with black spots on it, it had the shape of a star and the tips of the petals curled back to the base of the blossom. ''Tiger Lily, why?'' He answered, confused.

''They represent pride, wealth, and nobility.'' She answered, then pointed at another flower. ''And this one?''

It was light pink and cup-shaped, and he faintly recognized it from one of his mother's precious vases. ''Camellia.''

''Yes, they symbolize qualities like excellence and perfection, some say they bring good luck to a man,'' The miko hummed in appreciation and pointed at the last flower he could see. ''Now this one.''

It was a cup-shaped yellow flower with four petals, but he didn't remember its name. ''I do not know.''

''It's a Yellow Poppy, it represents success.''

''And what is the point of this?'' Sesshoumaru asked, genuinely curious, and the miko smiled at him.

''You know who did it, didn't you?'' She asked and he nodded.

''Rin is quite fond of flowers, she spends a great deal of her time in Sakura's gardens, just watching them.'' He said and Kagome smiled softly.

''She is sending a message to you, can't you see?'' He shook his head and she rolled her eyes, it didn't matter if it were youkai or human, men were bound to be stupid when it came to feelings. ''She is telling you what she thinks about you, Kami, why are men so ignorant?''

His eyes narrowed and she ignored his glare, turning the crown around so he could see a single flower standing out of the rest, this one he recognized.

''A rose?'' He raised an eyebrow at her.

''A dark pink one, it means thankfulness,'' Kagome spoke and enjoyed the way his eyes widened in understanding. ''See? It wasn't that hard to get!"

''Rin is too clever for a child,'' He spoke after a while and she giggled. ''Is this the reason why she spends so much time collecting flowers?''

''She said to me that they are pretty and she likes pretty things, so she tried to learn more about them,'' Kagome chuckled, remembering this particular talk with the girl. ''Children's mentality are usually very simple, but I think she found in the flowers a way to show her appreciation to the ones she likes. I've seen her giving flowers to almost everyone though I'm not sure about their meanings, maybe I should ask her later.''

''Indeed, she is rather fond of making crowns out of them, bracelets too.'' The daiyoukai spoke, and the miko suddenly had an idea.

''Hey, do you think I could use enough reiki on the flowers to make them last forever?'' She asked, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

''It is possible, why, though?'' He asked but she promptly ignored him, hurting his ego yet again.

No one ever ignored him, he ignored the others, so how dared this tiny woman act like she was his superior? Even though he was slightly offended and tempted to kill her, Sesshoumaru found himself narrowing his eyes and trying to think of a way to make her stop doing that and pay him the attention he deserved.

''Oh, this is going to be good!" The miko giggled as she stared at the flowers before smiling at him and putting them on his head.

''Miko…'' Sesshoumaru growled, this girl truly didn't fear death and he found himself wanting to teach her exactly what true fear was.

''She will be happy to know you wore it, take it off in the morning and I'll use it again.'' She spoke, smiling at him as they entered a peaceful field and he decided that he did not want to deal with her anymore, so he chose to stop for the rest of the night.

''Do not make me regret this.'' He spoke and her eyes widened as she ran to where Ah-Un had laid down.

Settling herself comfortably between the dragon's legs, Kagome gave a happy sigh at its warm temperature and smiled at the daiyoukai who was looking at her with a bored face.

''Just put the crown on my head like we did with you before everyone wakes up, good night.'' She yawned, and before he could say that this was ridiculous, she was fast asleep.

Still, for the rest of the night, Sesshoumaru found himself unable to melt the stupid flowers with his poison and to make things worse, the miko's scent now clung onto him, making him wonder if his father was happy because there was no way this wasn't planned.

She annoyed him even in her sleep and he found himself trying to focus on anything but her scent, denying to his core that even though she was human, her scent was rather appealing to him.

* * *

 **Thank you very much for your support, I saw today that I have more reviews that faves and I got really happy, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!**


	18. Darkness

**Chapter 18 – Darkness**

''You're not very good at being subtle,'' Sakura commented, smiling at the shocked look the miko now had on her face. ''Ask what you want to know, my friend. I doubt you came here to discuss today's weather.''

Blushing, Kagome looked down and tried to avoid embarrassing herself even more. After a whole week back in the castle and catching up with Rin's tutoring, as well as Shippo's, the miko realized that she was being a coward and glared at her own reflection before deciding to seek the green eyed youkai.

What Sesshoumaru had said never left her mind, and as she was forced to stay awake some nights because of the images that assaulted her mind, she felt herself not wanting to hear the youkai's answer to her question. Kagome knew very well the fear those memories brought, she did not wish to cause pain to the one that had been so kind to her during her whole stay in the shiro, but once she realized she had been making excuses to avoid Sakura, she decided to just get over with it.

As she stood in front of the kind youkai, Kagome realized she was not ready to do this but even if she said she wanted absolutely nothing, the woman wouldn't believe. Asking about the weather wasn't really a good idea, she would need to think about other topics to avoid a conversation she dreaded having later.

''So?'' Sakura asked, a gentle smile on her face, and Kagome sighed.

She wasn't ready, but she could faintly remember Kaede's words in the moment where she confessed to the older miko that she wasn't ready to start her training with the swords, and so, she mentally repeated them.

''It's the moment where you think to yourself ' I'm not really sure I can accomplish this,' and push yourself forward that something magical happens.'' The older miko's voice rang in Kagome's head. ''I believe that's the exact moment where you have a breakthrough, you know you're not ready to do it, but you try anyway. This is how you grow my dear, so do not be afraid to take a step forward because of the fear of falling down, otherwise you will remain frozen in time while everyone else moves to their destiny. It would be a pity to see someone so bright and talented like you not move forward because of your own foolishness.''

Taking a deep breath, Kagome gathered her courage and spoke. ''I've been having nightmares,'' Her voice was low, almost as if she was afraid of speaking, and Sakura's eyes softened in return. ''At first, it was easy to pretend nothing happened, I was in denial and it was quite comforting to ignore the problem and focus on my new life here. Rin distracted me, Shippo too, watching Jaken scream around was amusing and I had a hundred youkai to worry about, so I didn't put much effort into accepting my past.''

''Go on, my dear,'' Sakura spoke, moving to sit closer to the miko and holding her hand.

''Lately, I haven't been able to ignore it anymore,'' Kagome whispered, gulping, and Sakura braced herself for whatever the miko was about to say. ''I dream about them all the time, I feel their hands touching me and ripping my clothes away as I'm powerless to stop them, I can remember every single promise they made, of how they would use me once their master was done, and even when I wake up, I can't stop shaking.''

Sucking in a breath, Sakura's hands tightened around hers and the youkai closed her eyes. The miko she came to consider a friend was trembling in front of her and she knew very well what she was talking about, having experienced the same terrifying situation years ago. As Sakura opened her eyes again, she saw Kagome's hopeless expression and pulled the girl into a hug, knowing that she needed the support, the reassurance that everything was fine now.

''Sesshoumaru-sama spoke to me, he even started training me after I told him what happened but it never stops,'' She whispered, her voice hoarse as the first tears started to fall down and she hugged the youkai back tightly. ''The fear never stops. I can't sleep anymore and the children are starting to notice, I panicked when a youkai grabbed me and if it wasn't for Sesshoumaru, I think I would've blown the whole forest around me in fear with my reiki. Sesshoumaru said you could help me so I beg you, please make it stop, Sakura-chan.''

''Oh my dear, there's nothing to do to make it stop, believe me, I tried,'' Sakura whispered, running her fingers through the miko's hair. ''I know how it feels, the hopelessness that takes over you when you remember, but it gets better, I promise.''

''Did-Did it happen with you too?'' Kagome asked between her sobs, her happy mask crumbled down completely and all that was left was her despair and a soul that ached for comfort, for someone to erase her pain and make her forget.

''It was ten years ago, he's dead now,'' Sakura whispered, her bright green eyes suddenly becoming darker as she remembered everything. ''My father died when I was only a child, I didn't get to know him very well, and my mother died when I was only a teenager because of an unknown sickness at the time.''

''I thought youkai couldn't get sick,'' Kagome frowned, pulling back from the hug to properly pay attention to the story, tears still running down her face.

''It's very rare, the sickness took all her strength away and slowly destroyed her organs, and even though she knew she didn't have much time, she always wore a smile and tried to enjoy life to the fullest, she had a peaceful grin on her face when she left us,'' Sakura spoke, smiling fondly as tears welled up in her eyes at the memory of the woman she had loved so much.

''She's with your father now, it was for the best,'' Kagome muttered, holding the youkai's hands tightly.

''Yes, she was happy even in her worst moments, I truly wish to be as strong as she was,'' Sakura spoke, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. ''With both my parents gone, I had no one else related to me, the ones who were still alive I lost contact over the years and I was never really fond of them.''

''I decided to become a healer because of my mother, I wanted to help people, human and youkai alike, so they wouldn't have to suffer like she did. Sesshoumaru took care of me after this, even though he denies it to his core, he is very kind, but I guess not many would believe the Killing Perfection to be anything but merciless.'' Sakura shrugged, and Kagome gave her a knowing smile.

''He is, he tried to deny it when I said it because I don't think anyone ever really called him kind. He's way more than the bored mask he wears every day, he just doesn't want anyone to find what he tries so hard to hide.'' Kagome spoke, remembering the surprised look in his eyes when she had this talk with him.

''That stubborn dog, I don't know what I'll do with him…'' Sakura mumbled, rolling her eyes, before continuing the story. ''Akio also became a good friend of mine, and I was happy here until the mating proposals started to show up. I was a young female in my prime, healthy enough to bear a lot of pups, so I guess it wasn't really a surprise when males started to court me.''

Kagome's eyes widened when she heard this, and she prayed to the Kami that it hadn't been her mate the one to commit such an atrocity.

''Since I had no family, they had to ask permission to Sesshoumaru, the current Lord of the House, to mate me. Sesshoumaru's only answer was that he wasn't anyone's babysitter and if I didn't wish to mate any of them, they would just have to deal with it because he wasn't going to do anything about the situation, he had better things to do in his shiro.'' Sakura spoke, an amused glint in her eyes as she recalled the several angry faces of the ones Sesshoumaru ignored.

''Somehow his answer doesn't surprise me.'' Kagome giggled, imagining the scene, it had to be at least amusing.

''Indeed,'' Sakura smirked. ''I had been raised with the knowledge that I would be given to someone I didn't know and obliged to mate with them, I was fine with it, but when I saw that I had the chance to change my future, I took it. I rejected them all, I was young, still am, and I had too many places to explore and people to meet. I didn't want to be tied down to a stranger, I'm a romantic at the heart Kagome-chan, I still wish to mate with someone I love, be him a human or a youkai.''

The miko smiled, but as she saw the youkai's face become serious, her smile disappeared and she prepared herself for whatever that was to come.

''Most males were annoyed with me but left me in peace, some tried to show themselves off in an attempt to catch my attention but they all failed and eventually gave up, all but one.'' Sakura's expression now was cold, making Kagome's heart twist painfully in her chest. ''I don't remember his name but I remember his face, he was a vicious bat youkai and always succeeded in scaring the hell out of me, his aura was so dark and twisted that it made me uneasy.''

Kagome gulped, this was painfully similar to what had happened with Onigumo. She remembered when she first met him, she had been thrown into a dirty cell and after a while, he came for her, his face with a twisted smirk and a dangerous glint in his eyes. She knew right then what was going to happen and his aura was so evil that it made her insides crawl, she had never been so scared in her whole life.

''I was calmly walking through the gardens one day when he suddenly appeared and grabbed me, I tried to fight but my chest suddenly started to burn,'' Sakura spoke, taking a shaky breath before she kept going. ''I panicked when I realized that my youki had been locked away, he dragged me to an empty horse stable and threw me on the floor. When my mind finally caught up with what was happening, I started to scream as if my life depended on that, and in a way, it did.''

Kagome felt the hands on her lap shaking but somehow, she couldn't identify if it was hers or Sakura's, they both disturbed by their own memories.

''I screamed until my throat hurt, even when he kicked me and told me to shut up or else it was going to be a lot worse I didn't stop,'' Sakura whispered, a haunted look on her face. ''After what it seemed like an eternity and my voice was slowly starting to disappear just like my clothes, someone came rushing through the small door of the stable and I felt the weight of the disgusting vermin disappear from my body as hands started to dress me again.''

Kagome let out a shaky breath, glad that someone had appeared to save her from what would inevitably happen. ''Thank Kami.''

''Akio was the one I found at my side once I gathered enough courage to open my eyes, I didn't even notice I had closed them before. He was shaking with anger and his aura was furious but even in this state, he held me with the care of a mother holding her child for the first time and whispered that everything would be okay.'' Sakura spoke, now looking slightly calmer than before. ''Sesshoumaru was the one who rushed first through the doors, I had never seen him so mad in my whole life. He always looked like the epitome of calm so when I looked at him and saw his eyes bleeding red, I was scared shitless. He killed the youkai before he even had a chance to ask what was happening, Sesshoumaru didn't even drag him to trial as the law demands, and I have the feeling that if he didn't kill the youkai then, Akio would've taken matters into his own hands.''

''I'm so glad you escaped,'' Kagome whispered shakily, sending a prayer to the Kamis for being kind enough to spare her friend of the pain, and it suddenly made sense why Sesshoumaru was so focused on making her master the dagger, why he seemed strangely disturbed when he found out what had happened to her.

''What is the trial?'' Kagome asked after Sakura's last words were registered in her brain.

''Rape is one of the worst crimes a youkai can commit. Anyone who attempts to rape another person is permanently banned from society and sentenced to death, their families cut all ties with them before the execution happens, we condemn it.'' Sakura spoke, watching as the miko's eyes widened in surprise. ''It is not the same with humans?''

Regretfully shaking her head, Kagome spoke, her voice laced with pain. ''No, and sadly, no one really cares. It mostly happens with females and they are forced to marry the rapist, the families turn their backs to the victims and they are forced to live with the one that caused them the most horrible nightmare of their lives.''

''This is disgusting!" Sakura spat, her jaw clenching. ''And they dare to call us the savages, how can they accept this? No living creature should have to go through what those poor women go!''

''This is one of the reasons why I never believed youkai were truly evil,'' Kagome sighed. ''Many tried to convince me otherwise, but now that I found somewhere I can call home in the middle of the ones that should be my enemies, how can I think the priestesses are right? They just don't know better.''

''Did they-'' Sakura tried to ask but found herself unable to. Kagome was so pure, so cheerful, she couldn't believe this girl had gone through not only slavery but this too.

''No,'' Kagome shook her head and watched Sakura sighed in relief. ''They attempted to but I panicked, my reiki lashed out at anything that held the slightest bit of youki and destroyed half of the soldiers that stood there at this day. I didn't even know youkai worked for that disgusting man, I'm just glad that they were scared enough to let me go and never look at me again.''

''I'm glad, I really am,'' Sakura whispered, at least she hadn't gone through the whole experience.

Silence took over the place and Kagome found herself breathing more easily, as if a small weight had been lifted off her shoulders once she shared her story with someone that truly understood her fear.

''How do you start to live with it?'' Kagome asked, looking at her friend with a hopeful expression.

''The nightmares didn't stop for months,'' The green eyed youkai spoke, smiling sadly at the girl. ''I went through the denial stage for some good time, I pretended that nothing happened but after a while, I couldn't lie to myself anymore and the visions of his disgusting face haunted my once pleasant dreams.''

''It's like you're describing me,'' Kagome gave a humorless chuckle, wondering why they had to go through this. ''The darkness still exists inside of me. Almost every day I sit alone in bed, crying until the sun rises because of the nightmares and jumping in fear at the slightest of sounds. At first, I couldn't stand the person I've become so I pretended that everything was fine but I can't do this anymore, I'm breaking apart and I fear the moment where my emotions will grow dull and the only thing I will feel is this horrible sensation of hopelessness.''

Sakura bit her lip hard as she heard this, it was like she was talking to the youkai she was ten years ago, where she was in a stage of depression she would never wish anyone to go through.

''I locked myself in my room for the first month after what happened,'' The brown haired youkai spoke, making Kagome look at her, the girl's eyes shining with unshed tears. ''I refused to go out, I didn't like the brightness of the sun because the light showed the reality I was trying to avoid, so I hid in the darkness until the despair was too much for me to deal with it alone and I asked for help.''

''Did it work?'' Kagome asked, her voice hoarse and the tears now falling freely down her cheeks as she tried to grasp the smallest glimmer of hope anyone could offer her.

''Eventually, it took some time,'' Sakura spoke, pulling the miko into a hug. ''Akio spent every single hour of his day with me until I got better, being alone never helped because my thoughts would drive me insane, I just couldn't help thinking about it. When he was needed, Sesshoumaru would be the one to offer me company and I never saw anything more amusing than him trying to make small talk!"

Giggling, Sakura remembered of all the moments where she wanted to burst out laughing but held it back. ''I didn't laugh, though, he was trying his best even though he wasn't comfortable with the situation and I was thankful for it. As time passed by, I realized something.''

''What?'' Kagome whispered, her voice muffled because she was hiding her face in the youkai's chest.

''I saw that there was more to me than the darkness inside my mind,'' Sakura's soft voice whispered. ''In the beginning, I used to tell myself that I was doing a good job and that everything would be okay, that no one would be able to hurt me, but eventually, I realized that my enemy was myself. So I accepted what happened and I cried for my almost lost innocence, I allowed myself to mourn over the naïve me that died that day because there is nothing wrong with crying, my dear, and I should have noticed this a long time ago.''

Kagome choked on a sob as she heard this, and Sakura hummed a comforting melody as she ran her fingers through the girl's hair. ''I accepted the darkness that would never leave my heart and used it to make myself stronger. I became bigger than my demons, the ones that I couldn't physically kill, and so I made an agreement with them. I wouldn't pretend they didn't exist and they would remind me of what I went through when I felt down, so I would know just how far I've come and how strong I really was.''

Kagome clutched Sakura's kimono tighter, hope blossoming in her chest as she spoke. ''Can I make peace with my own demons too?''

''You can, and I will be right by your side until you feel that you can deal with them alone,'' Sakura whispered, smiling as her friend muttered a thank you before a new wave of tears fell down her face.

Looking at the sky, Sakura, saw the sun slowly setting and smiled as a sense of peace washed over her. Tomorrow Kagome would start anew, and she would help the miko to overcome her fears step by step.

* * *

 **Rant time, proceed with caution:**

 **Something that has always bothered me with SK fics or InuYasha fics in general was that Kagome is raped in the majority of them and she's completely cool with it, because, you know, they're soulmates and destined to be together, duh. I've read my fair share of them and though there were a few that really addressed the issue as it should be, most of them romanticized the act of rape.**

 **It's not cute, he didn't do it because he loved you and couldn't control himself, it's also not pretty, so I really don't understand why many author picture it as something romantic. It's not happening only with SK fanfictions but with many other fandoms and original stories too, if you stop to take a look at Wattpad's ''hot'' section, you will see that many of the stories there follow the plot of the girl falling for the abusive bully who may or may not have raped them.**

 **Authors influence their readers, I really don't see how romanticizing abusive relationships is something good, so I wanted to write something that would stay true to how I picture the characters. Sesshoumaru, who is proud of being in control of his beast all the time, would never lose himself to it and rape someone, much less a human. I also don't think Kagome would stay with someone who did something as horrible as this to her, many picture her as weak and stupid in the stories but she's one of the strongest characters in the series, she would be strong enough to walk away.**

 **Here's the chapter many of you were waiting for. Some of you asked me why Kagome seemed fine most of the time and here's the explanation, she's been hiding her feelings. The pace of my story is really slow (I can't stand everything happening too fast because it seems like nothing makes sense and I get confused) and she hid it until she couldn't anymore and broke down.**

 **I hope you guys enjoys this chapter, thank you very much for the reviews, you're the best!**


	19. Charms

**Chapter 19 – Charms**

''Hey, Sakura-chan,'' Kagome spoke as she intently stared at the youkai, who stopped watering a flower to raise an eyebrow at her. ''What kind of youkai are you? I've been meaning to ask you this but I never really got the time.''

''I'm an Earth Elemental,'' Sakura answered with a smile as she touched a wilted flower and Kagome watched with wide eyes as it started to shine until it was grown beautifully, just like the others. ''I control the earth and everything in it, including plants.''

''This is amazing!" Kagome squealed, moving closer to stare at the pink flower with bright eyes. ''Can you teach me how to infuse my reiki in a flower and make it live forever? And can I pick a few flowers from your garden too?''

''May I ask why do you want to do this?'' The youkai asked as she stopped taking care of the flowers to look at her friend.

''I got afraid when I saw a purifying arrow going straight to Sesshoumaru's heart,'' Kagome said, remembering the day she met his half-brother. ''I realized that while I'm immune to reiki, most of you are not. It would kill me to see any of you, Jaken included, be hurt by a priestess and I wanted to make some sort of charm to protect you guys. It was supposed to be a secret but I need your help and this kind of spoiled the surprise.''

Eyes softening when she heard this, Sakura smiled at the miko. ''I can help you with this, do you have anything specific in mind?''

''Yes! My knowledge of flowers isn't that great but I want to choose one for each of you, can you help me? I know you care greatly for your garden so I don't want to take too many flowers, one for each person is great already!" Kagome spoke, excited, and Sakura laughed.

It was good to see the miko looking forward to doing something, she had used the past week to accept what had happened and after mourning for a great deal of time, she was finally able to let it go. The green eyed youkai spent the whole week around the miko, motivating her to move on and to open up, and now she could finally say that her friend was getting better.

In fact, the miko seemed to be dealing with the situation better than she had in the past, and Sakura wondered if it was because of the children's company. The youkai was sure that she would've gotten better a lot faster if Rin and Shippo were there to make her laugh, they brought a unique light to the shiro and she couldn't be happier when they were around, the days never seemed dull anymore.

''What kind of charm do you have in mind?'' Sakura asked as Kagome moved to touch a white Chrysanthemum.

''I thought about a necklace with a single flower, Kami knows Shippo and Jaken won't want to wear them if they are too visible,'' She rolled her eyes. ''If it's a necklace, they can hide it under their haori.''

''That's a great idea!" Sakura squealed, moving to sit close to the miko on the soft grass. ''We can start now, which flower did you choose for them?''

''I thought about this one for Rin,'' Kagome said, still touching the white Chrysanthemum. ''It means cheerfulness and optimism.''

''This is a good one,'' Sakura hummed as she moved to pick the flower from the rest of the plants. ''I will give the flower the form of a necklace, and when I tell you to start, I want you to gently surround it with your reiki.''

''Sure!'' Kagome nodded, and watched in fascination as Sakura's hands started to shine in a soft green light and the leaves of the flower started to get longer, growing until they started to look like a vine and entwined around each other, successfully turning into a small necklace.

''Now,'' Sakura muttered, and Kagome slowly started to push her reiki out, focusing on the flower.

She thought about how she wanted to protect Rin from anything that could hurt her and concentrated her powers on this, the flower shining pink as Kagome softly whispered the words to complete the protecting spell.

''Well done!" Sakura smiled as the miko opened her eyes and the pink light faded into the flower, making Kagome smile brightly at her. ''Who's next?''

* * *

Looking around the halls of the shiro, Kagome wondered for a second if she was lost, she had to be walking in search of Akio for at least ten minutes and there was no sign of him until now. She also didn't see Sesshoumaru anywhere and frowned, what if he didn't accept her gift?

The idea of the small protection charm being a necklace was mostly because of him, she doubted he would want to walk around with a flower visible to everybody's eyes and so, a necklace that could be easily hidden was the best choice in this situation.

Jaken was with Rin and Shippo and she would give them their gifts later, she had already given Sakura's charm, made of cherry blossoms as it ironically turned out to be her favorite flower. The meaning was also appropriate, they symbolized hope, spring and feminine beauty, something that fitted the youkai greatly.

Turning around the corner, Kagome smiled when she saw Akio's bright red hair and ran to catch up with him.

''Akio-san, wait!" She said as he started to walk away but stopped to look at her.

''Kagome-sama, how are you doing?'' He asked with a small smile on his face and she frowned.

''I already told you to stop calling me this.'' She muttered and his smile widened at her reaction.

''Please forgive me, Kagome.'' He spoke, and this time, she smiled, making him chuckle. ''How can I help you?''

''Sakura-chan and I made something for you!" The miko smiled brightly as she gave him a small package and he raised an eyebrow at her once he opened it.

''A flower?'' He asked as he stared at a bright yellow flower with rounded, shield-shaped leaves.

''It's a Nasturtium, and it's not just a flower, it's a protection charm,'' Kagome said, watching as his eyes widened as he stared at her.

''I'm humbled, Kagome-sama.'' He spoke as he bowed and the miko rolled her eyes. ''I promise to wear and protect it, a gift as touching as this one is not something one receives every day.''

''Why is everyone here so polite?'' She mumbled, annoyed, before she took the necklace from his hands and put it on his neck. ''This flower means victory in battle and conquest, Sakura-chan was the one who chose it and I only infused it with my reiki to create the spell. She told me a few tales about how you won several battles and it seemed appropriate for us to choose this flower.''

''It's a beautiful flower and the meaning is touching, thank you.'' He spoke with a small smile as he touched it and Kagome sighed in relief, glad he had liked it.

''It will keep you safe from any kind of holy powers, so you won't need to worry about being randomly hit by a purifying arrow or sutra, it can also take a few hits of youki in case you find yourself vulnerable,'' Kagome said and Akio tilted his head slightly to the side, watching her with his strangely dark eyes.

''Did something happen?'' He asked and Kagome nodded as she bit her lip.

''We had a meeting with InuYasha,'' She spoke and Akio cringed a bit, making the miko laugh. ''Yeah, I know. In the middle of the battle, a purifying arrow was sent straight to Sesshoumaru's heart and he didn't have enough time to dodge it, I don't think he even saw it honestly, I barely felt the reiki in the air.''

''What happened?'' He asked, his eyes widening slightly.

''I shot another arrow and made them both explode in the air, I never stopped to think about it but right then I realized that not only Sesshoumaru but Shippo and everyone else too could die easily at the hands of a miko,'' Kagome said, sighing. ''I got slightly scared at the thought of losing them and decided to do something about it, then I had the idea of making a charm!"

''This is very thoughtful of you, Kagome,'' Akio spoke, making the miko smile at him. ''Have you given the others their charms?''

''Nope, only you and Sakura-chan. I was going to search for Sesshoumaru but I don't think he's here, so I'm going to find Jaken and the others now.'' She said and he nodded, smiling.

''Then I won't stay in your way,'' He said as he pulled the miko into a hug, chuckling when she squealed in surprise. ''Thank you for the gift, I know it will protect me in the future, and if you need anything, come to me.''

''Okay!" Kagome answered as she hugged him back, happy for being able to do something to repay the kindness of the ones that took care of her in the shiro. ''See you later, Akio-san!"

Waving his hand with a smile on his face as he watched the miko disappear into one of the halls, Akio wondered if there was any other priestess like her, selfless enough to go as far as protecting a kind that could easily kill her.

Shaking his head, he realized that finding anyone like Kagome would be impossible, something in the back of his mind whispered to him that she was unique.

* * *

Kagome's step came to a halt as she felt something pulling her back.

Looking around but seeing nothing, she started to walk again and felt that something was calling her, ordering her to go through another path and she frowned. This was weird, she had the feeling that something bad was going to happen soon and couldn't understand what was wrong, or why she suddenly had trouble breathing.

Biting her lip, she remembered Rin and the pull suddenly became stronger, making her eyes widen. Starting to run, Kagome almost hit a maid that had just turned around the hall and shouted an apology as she tried to understand what was happening, her hands were shaking and adrenaline was running through her veins, confusing the miko.

As she left the shiro and stepped into the gardens, she saw Rin innocently chasing a butterfly as Shippo played by the small pond next to her. Gasping for breath, Kagome realized there was nothing wrong and was about to turn away when she suddenly felt a tainted aura moving faster and faster towards the little girl.

Eyes widening, Kagome's body moved instinctively and she started running towards Rin, who was still oblivious to everything that was happening. Kagome couldn't see anything, but when she got close to Rin, she felt that the aura would attack and pushed the girl away just in time to avoid the attack as a youkai suddenly materialized in front of her.

Kagome didn't know what was happening, her brain was completely blank and her reiki was threatening to break free. As she tried to control her own body, she faintly heard Rin's scream and frowned in confusion as she felt something drip down her waist to her legs.

Looking down, Kagome saw a red liquid staining her once lilac kimono and her eyes widened slightly when she finally noticed that there was a spear embedded on her stomach. Looking up at the youkai who wore a mask, Kagome felt the control over her reiki slipping away as she struggled to understand what was happening.

She felt the spear moving to go deeper into her body and gasped as she finally felt the pain. Her body seemed to burn from inside out and she let go of whatever she had been holding back, watching with wide eyes as the youkai in front of her screamed before a bright light surrounded her and he turned into a small pile of ashes.

The pain seemed to fade away completely as Rin's screams became louder and she could faintly hear Shippo crying too. Annoyed that one of her favorite kimonos was now destroyed, Kagome grunted before she held the spear and pulled it off, watching with a grim look on her face as the blood started to flow even more.

The sounds seemed to fade away and Kagome frowned, this was weird. As she saw black spots dancing in front of her, she realized that this couldn't be good and just as everything became dark and the weapon slipped from her hands, she wondered if she would live long enough to give the others their protection charms.

This felt awfully a lot like when she had been running away from Onigumo and Kagome couldn't help but pray that this time, she would be able to avoid standing on the edge of her life.

* * *

 **The plot finally starts to get deeper, I'm not sorry for the cliffhanger by the way. The response to the last chapter was beautiful and I'm so glad you guys agreed with me, I was kind of afraid of posting my rant, thinking that some of you would rebel against me or something. Thank you very much for the lovely reviews, you guys are the best!**


	20. Pack

**Chapter 20 – Pack**

Sesshoumaru fought back a growl as he stared at his men, they lacked the explanations he needed and he found it strangely hard to control the urge to kill something now.

The fact that he had a migraine due to Rin's cries also didn't help, and he wondered what exactly had happened while he was away patrolling his lands.

The situation with the ryu youkai got on his nerves and he decided to resort to a slightly more violent way to solve the matter, so he left his shiro and flew until he found the current motive of his annoyance and killed a few of them, making sure to let two or three live long enough to pass down the message of what would happen if they ever stepped on his lands again.

Feeling slightly more calm after decapitating a few idiots, Sesshoumaru flew back to his shiro and looked around in confusion when Jaken didn't appear. This wasn't normal, the toad would usually materialize right in front of him as his feet touched the ground of his shiro and then he would start praising his mightiness until Sesshoumaru got bored and either kicked Jaken or left him talking alone.

Since this situation was uncommon, Sesshoumaru left to search for his questionably loyal servant, and after finding Jaken passed out, hidden in a bush, the daiyoukai realized that something was wrong. As soon as he brought him to Sakura, he heard a high-pitched scream and his heart started to beat faster as he dashed out of the healing section of his shiro.

The scream belonged to Rin and he had only heard this when something very bad was about to happen, biting back a growl when he heard the kitsune scream too and felt a sudden burst of reiki, Sesshoumaru sped up and arrived in the gardens just in time to see the miko remove a spear from her stomach and sway slightly on her feet before she started to fall.

Rin was crying, as well as the kitsune, and Sesshoumaru quickly moved to catch the miko before she hit the ground. Her face was paler than usual and there was a lot of blood staining her kimono. Rin kept crying and Sesshoumaru clenched his jaw as he ordered both children to follow him and left to the healing room, where Sakura was.

Once he arrived there, the green-eyed youkai gasped in horror and quickly ordered him to put the miko down, Jaken was easily forgotten and the daiyoukai pressed his lips into a thin line, someone had planned to kill one of those under his care. He watched with interest as Sakura's hands shone in a light green color and she poured something on the wound, making the miko flinch in her sleep and Sakura mutter an apology and a promise that everything would be fine.

Once the earth elemental was finished, the blood had stopped flowing and she sighed in relief, grabbing a wet rag to clean the miko's body before proceeding to bandage her. That was a good time to ask what had happened, and once Rin had stopped crying and started to speak, he got even more confused.

Apparently, his ward had been innocently playing with the kit when the miko suddenly pushed her to the ground. When Rin looked up, she saw the woman with a spear embedded on her stomach and screamed, making Sesshoumaru realize that the one hurt could've been her if the miko didn't show up. A second passed by and a bright pink light took over the miko's body and the youkai who had attacked them turned into ashes, a moment later the miko pulled the weapon out of her body and simply passed out.

Jaken's sudden disappearance made sense to him now, the toad had probably been beaten until he passed out and tossed away like trash, but one thing still didn't make sense. How no one in his shiro noticed the invader? It surely had been someone sent from outside, none of his men would be fool enough to attempt to kill his ward, they knew what would happen with them if Rin appeared with as much as a scratch on her body.

The only logical answer was that someone sent the assassin for her, and while he wanted to believe that it was someone he didn't know, the daiyoukai had the feeling that the betrayer lived in the shiro. How else would the assassin be able to enter, if not with the help of someone who knew exactly where he should go? There was a spy in his lands, and he was not pleased when his men didn't find a single clue about who he was even after a whole week had passed by.

''Leave.'' Sesshoumaru bit out and watched as the three soldiers quickly ran away, fearing for their lives.

Sighing mentally, Sesshoumaru got up from his seat and walked out of his study, he needed a bit of fresh air if he wanted to control the urge to kill something.

Walking through the many halls of his place, he moved aimlessly for a while until he passed by a door and stopped in front of it. It was the miko's room and as he listened to her heartbeat, he realized that she was still asleep, a whole week had passed by since she passed out and there were no signals that she would wake yet.

This was confusing, the miko had slipped into a small coma twice while in his care. He would never admit it but it bothered him, this wasn't acceptable and he pressed his lips into a thin line as he slid the door open and found Sakura and Shippo inside.

''Sesshoumaru!" Sakura greeted him with a small smile and he nodded in acknowledgment, stepping inside the room and taking a seat next to the kit. ''She's getting better, her wound is completely closed now and the scar is already fading away, I think she will wake up soon.''

''This is not normal.'' He spoke, and this time, the kit nodded.

''Mama always does this when she's hurt, you learn to deal with it as the time passes by.'' Shippo shrugged, making the daiyoukai raise an eyebrow at him.

''Are you not worried about her health?'' Sesshoumaru asked and watched with confusion as the kitsune shook his head.

''This is normal for her, she tried to explain it to me once but I never really understood,'' The kit frowned as he stared at his mother. ''I got scared when it happened for the first time, but she said that it's something that she can control depending on the gravity of her injuries. She said that her body completely shuts down when she's badly hurt and only starts working again when she's fine, if the wound is not that severe she can stop it, but I don't think she could control it this time.''

Sesshoumaru frowned visibly as he heard this, just like Sakura, and they both spent a full minute in silence before the earth elemental's eyes widened and she got up.

''Damn, I forgot to check on Jaken and give him his medicine, Kami knows that stubborn toad only takes care of himself when I'm bugging him!" She mumbled under her breath as she walked to the door. ''Can you please stay with Kagome-chan for a few minutes? I'll bring Rin with me when I come back so you won't need to worry about her.''

''Can I go see Rin? Maybe play with her and Akio-sama while you're seeing Jaken?'' The kitsune asked, perking up, and Sakura smiled.

''Sure, I promise it won't take too long, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Sakura said, already grabbing Shippo and heading out of the room, not even giving the daiyoukai time to answer her question.

Raising an eyebrow as he stared at the now shut door, Sesshoumaru allowed himself to roll his eyes at their childish behavior and turned to stare at the miko again.

She slept peacefully as if she was simply taking a nap, and he found himself bothered by this. What did the kit exactly mean when he said that this was normal for her? This wasn't normal for anyone, be it a human, a miko or a youkai, what she did was something he never heard about before and he would wait until she woke to ask about it.

His head ached and he sighed, besides dealing with incompetent people and having to calm down his distressed ward, the other reason why he found himself with a migraine was the miko. He didn't want to admit it, but when he saw her falling to the ground as blood poured down her stomach, something inside him tightened and he didn't like it.

He disliked the strange sensation more when his beast woke, forcing him to face what he had been blissfully oblivious to during this whole time: He had , in some unimaginable way, recognized the miko as pack.

As if having a human child was not enough, now his beast decided to get yet another human to be a part of it and that made Sesshoumaru slightly annoyed because that meant the kitsune had automatically become a part of the pack too. This wasn't planned, he didn't like to be surprised and he could hear his father's laugh from his tomb, the old bastard was no doubt ecstatic about the turn of the events.

Glaring at the miko's peaceful expression, Sesshoumaru wished she would just wake up because then at least his beast would shut up and leave him alone, he wouldn't need to be constantly worried about the fact that she was human and sleeping for so long was somehow dangerous to her.

He cursed his inu instincts and hoped Sakura would come back soon, his stupid beast was even more annoying now that he was in the same room as the miko and he needed to immerse himself in work to forget the strange sensation of being worried for someone else other than Rin.

* * *

 _''We meet yet again.'' Something whispered to her as she opened her eyes and faced a field covered in snow, the sound was like the fusion of a thousand different voices and as strange as it seemed, it brought her a sense of peace._

 _''Where am I?'' Kagome asked, looking around and seeing nothing but snow, almost like the whole world was frozen._

 _''It does not matter,'' The voice spoke, and Kagome's eyes widened when a pink sphere of light suddenly appeared in front of her. ''The moment will arrive soon.''_

 _''What moment?'' Kagome frowned, completely confused._

 _''The moment where you will realize the truth.'' The voice whispered, its words sending chills down her spine._

 _It seemed so final, those words sounded like a warning in her confused mind and Kagome bit her lip, what was happening?_

 _''You have been here before,'' The pink light spoke. ''This is the third time. The first was when you were nothing but a baby, the second one was right after he caught you.''_

 _Kagome frowned when she heard this, she didn't remember anything, maybe she was hallucinating?_

 _''The he you speak of is Onigumo?'' She asked, and somehow knew that if the voice had a body, it would be nodding its head now._

 _''Yes, him. It was not planned, you shouldn't have gone through that,'' The voice muttered, sounding strangely annoyed. ''We sent you away, you were also not supposed to meet the daiyoukai, but it seems that not everything is going to happen as they told us.''_

 _''We? They? Who told you what? What did they tell you? What do you mean I wasn't supposed to meet Sesshoumaru or Onigumo?'' Kagome questioned, her eyes going wide as the sphere shone brighter and the snow melted, a small withered flower appearing right in front of her._

 _''There is no time,'' The voice spoke, the words rushed as if it was going to disappear soon. ''Awake the frozen soul, make the withered flower bloom again, Kagome.''_

 _The miko's eyes widened as she heard this, the whole world around her started to disappear and she could barely see the small flower coming back to life as the sphere shone brighter, keeping her from seeing what color the flower was._

 _''Open your eyes, make our heart beat again,'' The voice pleaded, this time sounding more feminine, and Kagome gasped for air as she felt her consciousness slipping away. ''Remember my words, hold onto us when you're lost, we'll become your path.''_

 _''Awake, miko.''_


	21. Scars

**Chapter 21 – Scars**

Kagome woke up with the feeling that she was forgetting something.

As her eyes opened and she faced the yellow ceiling of her room, she got confused. The last thing she remembered was red and white and pink and so much pain, something went wrong and she frowned as she moved her face to look at the side.

Seeing a flash of white silk, Kagome thought that the red and the pain she remembered didn't matter, the white was the key. Following the silk, Kagome's eyes traveled through the pink and red flowers on the sleeve and she was close to remembering, painfully close to knowing exactly what she forgot when her eyes found two bright golden ones and she completely erased from her mind what she was thinking a second ago.

''Sesshoumaru-sama?'' She asked, frowning as she sat up on her bed and looked around, confused.

''I see you finally decided to wake, miko.'' The daiyoukai spoke, his once narrowed eyes softening slightly and making Kagome wonder if the emotion that flashed on them was really relief or just a trick of her still sleepy mind.

''What happened?'' She asked, yawning as she looked around and saw that he was the only one there. Shippo would usually be by her side whenever she woke, just like Rin and-

''Rin!" Eyes widening, Kagome finally remembered why she felt pain. ''Where is she? What happened after I passed out? Did he hurt her? For how long have I been sleeping? Dear Kami, please tell me that I didn't purify half of the shiro and that's the reason why you're currently glaring at me!"

Sesshoumaru was indeed glaring at her, but it was simply an attempt to hide the relief he felt once she acted like her normal self. For a brief second, he was almost glad that the miko started firing questions at him, almost being the key word because he was soon reminded of how annoying she could be when interrogating him.

Still, he didn't have the heart to tell her to shut up and decided that she deserved a few answers, she had saved his ward's life after all.

''Rin is fine, as well as everyone else, though I cannot say the same about the youkai who dared to attack you,'' Sesshoumaru spoke, watching how the miko let out a relieved sigh and laid down again. ''I hope you are not planning to sleep again, you have been resting for a little more than a week and I do not think this behavior is normal for a human.''

''A week?!" Kagome quickly sat on the bed and stared at him with wide eyes. Touching the left side of her stomach, she felt the bandages through the silky fabric of her sleeping yukata and pressed her lips together.

Pushing the yukata away, Kagome slowly pressed a finger on the wounded side of her body and when she didn't feel any pain, she poked it with a bit more force. Shrugging when she didn't feel anything, she started to slowly remove the bandages, careful to not show anything since Sesshoumaru stood silent, simply staring at her.

''Interesting, it's gone,'' Kagome muttered once she threw the bandages away and ran her fingers where she remembered having a spear cutting her, noticing that there was not even a scar there.

''The kit said that it was common for you to sleep for so long, Rin only calmed down once he explained it to her,'' Sesshoumaru commented, secretly pleased that the wound was completely gone.

''Poor girl, I think I scared her when I pushed her to the ground.'' Kagome sighed, planning on bringing something to give the little girl as an apology for making her cry.

''Explain.'' Sesshoumaru simply said, making Kagome roll her eyes before she started to tell him everything that had happened while he was gone. When she finished speaking, she could feel Sesshoumaru's annoyance slipping through the bored mask he wore and bit her lower lip, thinking about a way of distracting him.

Seeing him angry seemed wrong and as she looked around the room, Kagome spotted the small packages next to a pile of kimonos and had an idea. Getting off her bed, she picked the silver one and walked back to where Sesshoumaru stood, sitting in front of him and smiling when she saw his raised eyebrow.

''I was searching for you when I felt the tug on my chest,'' She spoke, successfully catching his attention and making him forget about the incident. ''Do you remember when we met your half-brother and that arrow went straight to your heart?''

A nod was the only answer she got, and Kagome smiled at his clear annoyance for failing to notice the purifying arrow. ''I got really afraid in that moment, and I realized that even though I was immune to reiki, none of you were. What would I do if Shippo or you were hurt? I started thinking about a way to make a charm after this because even seeing Jaken being purified by a miko would make me sad, I'm the only one allowed to do this to him.''

Her last comment made the corner of his mouth twitch and he allowed himself to smirk, making Kagome giggle when she saw the amusement in his eyes.

''After talking to Sakura-chan, I had this idea!" She spoke, pushing the small silver package into his hand. ''We made this together, she gave it the form and I put the spell, and don't give me that look!" She narrowed her eyes when he raised an eyebrow at her.

''A flower, miko?'' He asked, eyeing the plant and remembering all the moments where he suffered in Rin's hands because of that thing.

''I wanted to give everyone something with a meaning,'' Kagome pouted. ''You know what the Tiger Lily means, and you can hide it under your haori so no one will see the mighty Lord of the Western Lands walk with an offending flower on his neck, tarnishing his aristocratic image.''

Her mocking tone made Sesshoumaru narrow his eyes, but as he eyed the simple charm, he felt traces of the spell and was impressed, the miko knew what she was doing. Noticing that she grew quiet and bit her lip as she stared at him, Sesshoumaru felt her insecurity in the air and his eyes softened, he could almost hear her thoughts of this being a stupid idea and decided to indulge her only this time.

''This Sesshoumaru is grateful for your gift, miko, your worry is touching though unnecessary.'' He spoke, feeling a strange sense of relief when she beamed at him, the faint traces of sadness completely gone.

''Thank you for accepting this Kagome's humble gift, my Lord.'' The miko said, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she took the necklace from his hand and kneeled on the bed.

Putting the charm around his neck, Kagome smirked when she saw herself forced to push his hair away to properly hide the charm. Sesshoumaru noticed her strangely satisfied expression but did not say anything as she opened his haori to hide the necklace under it, his skin seemed to burn as she brushed her fingers on his collarbones and Kagome fought back a shiver.

The tales of powerful youkai's skin being cold as snow and capable of freezing any being that dared to touch it always seemed wrong to her, but now that she felt how warm and alive Sesshoumaru was, the story was simply absurd and she wondered if who invented it had any contact with demons at all.

Probably not, she thought, positioning the flower so that it was completely covered. Pulling his haori back on, Kagome straightened the fabric and gave him a satisfied smile once she saw that there was nothing visible.

Her hands lingered on his chest for a second too long of what was considered appropriate, but neither of them seemed to notice it. She could sense the warm pulse of her reiki on the necklace as her hand rested there and felt something strange in her chest, almost similar to what she felt before she ran to see Rin, and pushed a little more reiki into the flower just to be sure that nothing was going to happen, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Sesshoumaru either didn't notice what she did or didn't think it was something worth commenting since he stayed quiet as she removed her hands from his person.

Sitting on the bed again, Kagome took a deep breath and tried to shake the strange feeling away, she had had enough surprises for a month.

''Is there anything else you wish to know, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' She asked, watching how he blankly stared at her as if he hadn't heard what she said.

''The kit spoke about your strange habit of passing out,'' Sesshoumaru spoke after a while, hoping she didn't notice how far he was gone into his mind.

In the moment the miko touched him, something felt different. He tried to grasp the feeling, tried to understand the strange warmth that took over his chest in the brief second her fingers directly touched his skin, but failed. It unsettled him, but not because her touch caused him revulsion, it was quite the contrary actually. The way his once dormant beast asked for more when her hands left her body left him confused, it had never happened in the past and before he could pay the proper attention to the strange demands of his beast, she spoke and he had to force himself to focus on what she was saying.

''Oh, I really don't know how to explain that,'' Kagome spoke, shrugging. ''Kaede said that it happened ever since I was a baby. The first time was when I was learning how to walk and ended up falling from the stairs and cutting myself, I slept for a whole week and the wound closed, but I still have the scar.''

Carefully opening her yukata, Kagome pointed at the only part of her own body that had a mark of her battles. On the right side of her stomach, the spot a little above her hip had a vertical scar that was relatively long, and Sesshoumaru tilted his head to the side as he examined it.

''I think that since I was really young my reiki was too weak to heal my body properly so I was left with the scar, but I don't really mind it.'' The miko spoke. ''Since then, Kaede said that any slightly serious wound I had would put me into a deep sleep and I would only wake when all the signs of injuries were gone. As time passed by, I noticed that I could sometimes control when it would happen, but if I'm drained spiritually, I can't do anything about it.''

''This is not normal,'' Sesshoumaru said, making Kagome laugh.

''My life is anything but normal, Sesshoumaru-sama, you should have known that by now.'' She smiled at him, shaking her head. ''I don't know how to explain what happens, but I feel a tug deep in my soul and my vision starts to get darker around the edges. I can stop it sometimes, and when Onigumo used to torture me, I would force myself to sleep so I wouldn't have to deal with him. It became something common for me but I forget that everyone else will probably think I'm dead, do not worry about me when this happens, I'll wake when my body is completely healed again.''

Sesshoumaru wanted to scoff, to say that the thought of him worrying over a human's health was stupid, but something kept him from saying that. It probably was the fact that it was a lie and lying was beneath him, but the Lord quickly ignored this thought and decided to remain as oblivious to what was happening as possible.

The miko's strangely bright blue eyes kept staring at him, making his chest burn in an unfamiliar way and he raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking if she wanted something. The miko simply smiled at him and when he was about to ask what was wrong with her, Rin and Shippo ran through the doors, screaming happily when they noticed that the miko was awake.

Deciding that she was safe enough with both Sakura and the children there, Sesshoumaru got up and moved to go back to his room. Just before he closed the door, he looked back and found those same blue eyes staring at him, giving him the impression that just for a second, she could look right through his soul.

* * *

 **GUESS WHO' BACK? YAY**

 **I'm currently editing the chapters I already posted and writing the new one, so you'll be seeing me quite a lot here! Thank you for the support and for not leaving this story behind, it's hard to write when your notebook has a will of its own but now it's finally fixed. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm excited with where the story is going and I think you guys will like too!**


	22. Protection

**Nope, I'm not dead (and I also didn't abandon this story, it will be finished, so don't give up on me!)**

 **Chapter 22 – Protection**

Kagome was being followed.

At first, she didn't notice, her stalker was too quiet and inconspicuous. No one realized what was happening but her, everything seemed like a coincidence in the brief moments her stalker allowed himself to be seen, but she knew there was something wrong.

''Can you please stop doing this?'' The miko sighed, exasperated.

''This Sesshoumaru is not doing anything.'' The inuyoukai spoke, raising an eyebrow as she glared at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

''You are following me, stop!" Kagome groaned, making Sakura stifle a laugh and Akio hide a grin.

''This Sesshoumaru is simply walking to his room, miko.'' He answered, making Kagome bit back a frustrated scream.

''No, you're not!" She groaned, glaring at him. ''You have been simply walking to you room for two whole days if that's how you call stalking! Your room is not in gardens, where I'm currently going, nor anywhere near me so please, tell me what exactly is wrong with you!"

The only answer Kagome got was another raised eyebrow and the laugh of her friends, who she was starting to hate too because it was their fault that she found herself in this situation.

Kagome had had her first encounter with Naraku two days ago, while she was calmly walking to the dining room and suddenly felt a shard close to her. Not one to waste time, she quickly ran to the direction she felt the tainted aura and after leaving the shiro behind and standing on the border of Sesshoumaru's private garden, she found a man dressed in a baboon's pelt.

She met Naraku without even knowing it was him so she didn't really feel threatened by the freak dressed up as a monkey that stood in front of her. Maybe she should've been smarter and recognized him when he said that it was nice to meet her again but hey, Kagome was tired that day and she had never been the brightest star in the sky when it came to realizing the obvious.

The things the hanyou said absolutely made no sense to her that time and she just shrugged, making an arrow of reiki appear in front of her and dash forward before the man could even realize what was happening. She thought he was mentally ill and leaving something like the shikon with someone who couldn't form a sentence that made sense didn't seem right to her, so she simply attacked him.

The strange hanyou was in the middle of asking how the life in the West was when his eyes widened and he felt the arrow piercing his chest, purifying his body and making him disappear.

Kagome muttered something about weird people and kicked the baboon's pelt away to get the three tainted shards. After purifying them, she put the shards together with the other one and moved to go back to the shiro, only to see Akio gaping at her as if he couldn't believe what she had done.

If she thought his reaction seemed a bit exaggerated, Sakura's one when Akio told what he saw was completely over the top, making Kagome frown in confusion. She tried to ask what was happening but both youkai ignored her and dragged the miko to Sesshoumaru's study, where the daiyoukai had a similar reaction to Akio's one but less dramatic and much more Sesshoumaru-like.

His eyes had widened and then narrowed after a second, making Kagome wonder if she had done something wrong because the inuyoukai seemed ready to kill something. Once she asked what was wrong and who that man was, everyone turned to look at her with an expression that was nothing but offensive, as if she had just said the dumbest thing in the world.

Their reaction only made sense when Sakura told her that she had killed one of Naraku's puppets and stolen his shards, and judging by the way Sakura said that, it sounded like Kagome had just spit on death's face and it was coming to get revenge. That made the miko get a bit scared, Naraku was Onigumo in a way and that explained why he spoke about meeting her again, the fact that she completely ignored him and destroyed his puppet as if he was as weak as an ant only made her fear grow.

Naraku had found her, she had stolen his shards and Kagome knew he would come to retrieve them. Akio's worry about her safety only made the miko think that she was completely fucked up, the way Sakura bit her lip in worry also didn't help, but as frightening as the situation was, when Kagome saw how annoyed Sesshoumaru looked for Naraku invading his territory, her fear somehow disappeared.

Naraku was only a hanyou, and even if he had a few shards of the shikon with him, Kagome doubted he was powerful enough to kill Sesshoumaru. She had never seen the daiyoukai in a serious battle before, their brief encounter with InuYasha couldn't be classified as a proper fight, but she had the feeling that he wasn't one to play with.

Kagome had tried to say that Akio's idea of putting a guard with her all the time was too much, Naraku had just found her because she was stupid and ran to get the shards, she doubted he would be idiotic enough to enter the shiro, but everyone completely ignored her. She knew they were worried about her safety but damn, she promised she wouldn't run away again, so why couldn't they just leave her alone?

Using all of her persuasion skills, Kagome managed to convince Sesshoumaru that she didn't need a guard, only to be stuck with the daiyoukai himself. She admitted he made the way he followed her seem like a simple coincidence, if you didn't pay enough attention you wouldn't even notice what he was doing, but Kagome wasn't that stupid.

She noticed she was being stalked and now she was annoyed, mostly because when she asked for her friends' help, Sakura simply said that it was the best for her and Akio told her she was imagining things.

''You know what? I think your lord-ish duties are stressing you, you need to rest!" Kagome said, suddenly having an idea. ''Tell me, when it was the last time you had a day to relax? Are you even sleeping at all?''

His silence was the only answer she needed and Kagome smirked, then turned to point at Akio and Sakura. ''You two are now in charge of taking care of Rin and Shippo, don't let them put Jaken's clothes on fire again and make sure they finish their lessons! I'm going to take your annoying Lord here to rest, I bet he's only like this because of the lack of sleep.''

Grabbing Sesshoumaru's wrist and dragging him through the halls with a fierce determination, the miko left two amused youkai behind.

''Release this Sesshoumaru right now, miko.'' An annoyed daiyoukai spoke but was completely ignored by the tiny woman that refused to let his hand go.

''Stop whining, we're almost there.'' That was the only answer he got, and he honestly couldn't see where she wanted to go.

The miko had led him through a side of the garden he barely went to, the only thing he could see was grass and a few trees and he was starting to think that the human didn't really know where she was going.

''This Sesshoumaru does not whine.'' The daiyoukai grunted as the miko kept pulling him along with her.

His beast was not pleased, which meant he also wasn't.

After the realization that the miko was pack, things started to get a bit more frustrating for the Lord of the West. His beast kept reminding him that he had failed to protect her not once but twice in a span of only two weeks, this wasn't acceptable and Sesshoumaru found himself fighting to keep his most feral instincts at bay.

It was already bad enough when he found out that the woman had been hurt while protecting Rin, now that she met Naraku, things only got worse. Naraku was indirectly the main cause of her pain and since he couldn't kill Onigumo because he was already dead, his beast's rage was directed to the hanyou and Sesshoumaru was left with a blood lust that just wasn't bigger than his need to keep the miko under his watch.

He shamelessly admitted that he was following her, though most wouldn't be able to say that, but it was only to appease his beast, that refused to fade into the depths of his mind and leave him alone. The irrational part of his being refused to believe that the woman was safe, he agreed with every argument she used to say she didn't need a guard but his other side refused to believe what he was hearing, leading Sesshoumaru to the undignified point of becoming a stalker.

''We're here!" The miko's voice brought him out of his musings, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw where he was.

The miko had brought him to what used to be his mother's favorite place in the whole shiro when she still lived there, and he found himself reminded of the many times he would walk through the gardens and see his mother simply sitting next to the small lake with her feet on the water, humming a happy melody.

The small clearing was hidden from the other parts of the gardens by a few trees, he could see many flowers from where he was and the lake that stood right in front of the mountain he remembered climbing when he was a pup still looked the same. The sun shone through the trees and Sesshoumaru felt strangely at peace, not even the miko's constant tug on his hand seemed able to annoy him now.

''Come on Sesshoumaru, sit here!" She spoke, and it was only then that the daiyoukai realized she had dropped the formality with him, simply calling him by his name.

He wanted to get annoyed and order her to give him the respect he deserved, but his name, when said by her, left a strange warmth on his chest that he did not want to go away.

Looking at her, he saw that she was pointing to the edge of the lake and sighed, deciding to indulge only this time for his own benefit. Maybe if the miko was happy, his beast would shut up and leave him alone to finally have peace again.

''Good boy, now put your toes in the water,'' Kagome spoke, ignoring the glare he gave her. ''Don't make me take your boots off for you.''

A second passed by before the daiyoukai grunted and Kagome smirked, pleased that he was following her orders.

''Now, I can see from here that you are tense,'' The miko said as she poked his stiff back. ''Is it because of Naraku? Are you having problems with the other Lords? Did someone invade your personal space like I'm about to do right now? I don't care, I'm going to make you relax so you can let me breathe again!"

''Miko, there is nothing you can do to-'' The girl had the audacity of shushing him up.

Sesshoumaru now had the absolute conviction that she was mentally challenged, no other human in their right state of mind would dare to do this.

''Stop looking at me like I just murdered your favorite pet,'' Kagome said as she rolled her eyes before moving to sit behind the daiyoukai. ''And before you think about killing me because I touched your pristine self, let me remind you that we are friends and we do not kill friends, okay?''

''Friends?'' Sesshoumaru scoffed as he felt the miko moving his hair out of her way. ''Do not lie to yourself, girl.''

''Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that the high and mighty Killing Perfection does not have friends,'' The miko said, and Sesshoumaru could almost taste her sarcasm in the air. ''Acquaintances then, call it whatever you want, just remember that killing me is wrong and Rin will be sad if she discovers her father brutally murdered her tutor and friend.''

''Rin does not need to know about this, I could simply say that you drowned after tripping on a pebble and falling into the lake,'' Sesshoumaru said, thinking that this was actually a very good plan. ''She knows about your clumsiness, it will not be a surprise to anyone if this actually happens.''

''Why are you so mean?'' Kagome muttered under her breath before she allowed her reiki to surface and concentrated it on her hands. ''I'm not trying to purify you, trust me, I did this all the time when I was at the shrine.''

Moving her hands to touch his shoulders, Kagome allowed her reiki to slowly embrace his body, repeating the steps she remembered so well from helping Kaede back then. The miko was old, Kagome had always noticed this, but she seemed to get more and more fragile as the years passed by and one day, Kagome asked her if there was anything she could do to help her.

The miko that raised her as her own daughter had smiled that day, saying that a massage would help. Kagome thought that it was a normal one, but Kaede showed the young girl how to manipulate her reiki into finding the tense spots of the body and after a while, Kagome knew how to make a person relax with just a few seconds of exposure to her holy powers.

Kagome was right, Sesshoumaru was too tense and as she slowly moved her reiki from a spot to another on his back, he seemed to relax into her touch until the point she thought he was sleeping, his head now tilted a bit to the left. ''See? It's not that bad to take a break from your duties every once in a while.''

''Hnn,'' His pleased hum was the only thing she got as an answer and she smiled.

It was strange to see Sesshoumaru so relaxed, but she found out that she liked to see him like that. He was often too serious, too stiff, she was glad she managed to make him get a break, even if she forced him to by dragging him away from the shiro.

''Now that you sound happy, care to explain why you were following me?'' She asked, and after a long period of silence where she thought he either fell asleep or was ignoring her, he spoke.

''This Sesshoumaru protects his pack.'' His voice was barely louder than a whisper but it was enough to make her concentration falter and her reiki almost fade again.

Kagome had never been the brightest star in the sky, she knew this, but it was impossible to ignore what he had just said.

He protected his pack.

He was protecting her.

She was pack.

Shippo had explained to her the concept of pack when she asked why he put himself in danger by throwing pebbles at InuYasha's face. His answer to her question was that she was pack, and pack was to be protected at all costs, not mattering how powerful the enemy was. She had then asked what pack was, and when he answered that it was similar to what humans called family, Kagome had almost cried.

She had never had a family, her own parents had left her at the shrine when she was nothing but a baby and Kaede had been the closest thing to a parent she ever had, the other priestesses had never really cared much about her. To think that someone like Sesshoumaru would consider her as family was almost insane, and yet, it had happened.

A strange warmth took over her body and she smiled brightly even though he couldn't see it. His words destroyed any fear left in her of him and Kagome moved forward, her hands moving from his shoulders to his waist as she embraced him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

He smelled like the ocean to her, almost always calm but capable of destroying anything that underestimated its power. His hand moved to stay on top of hers and Kagome sighed happily, he didn't reject her and her reiki danced happily around them, warmer than ever.

''Thank you.''

For the first time in her life, Kagome felt like she truly belonged somewhere.


	23. Midori

**College almost stole my soul, but I managed to get out of it alive (or at least I think so). Y`all already know my notebook has a will of its own and right now it doesn`t want to work properly, while I wait for it to come back of the dead, stay with one of the last chapters that I have here fully written as a proof that I did not abandon this story. Thank you for keeping up with me, you guys are the best!**

* * *

 **Chapter 23 – Midori**

''You've been reading this during the whole evening, aren't you hungry?'' Sakura's concerned voice snapped Kagome out of her thoughts, making the miko look at her, surprised.

''Sakura-chan! I didn't even notice you were there!'' The girl smiled, making the youkai shake her head.

''Rin was concerned, she called you twice but you didn't hear, it's time to eat dinner already.'' The green eyed youkai spoke.

''Really?!" Kagome's eyes widened when she stared at the window of the library and saw that the sun had set a long time ago. ''I'm sorry, I was just trying to memorize the spells I found here, they remind me of what Kaede used to teach me in the shrine.''

''Just memorizing? Rin said that you were making a lot of pink orbs and they were flying around, she even caught one in her hands to show me and it moved like it had its own will.'' Sakura raised an eyebrow, making Kagome blush in embarrassment.

''I was trying to see how many purification spheres I could make before I got drained,'' Kagome muttered. ''It turns out I can make way too many, they were flooding the place and I didn't even sweat, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, they require very little reiki.''

''I've seen mikos using them in battle before, their orbs certainly didn't move at their own will. Rin was chasing hers when it disappeared, she got a little upset when she couldn't show it to Shippo.'' Sakura giggled.

''I'll make one for her to play later,'' Kagome laughed, getting up and putting the book back where she found it. ''That was the only one I gave what you can call of a will, it doesn't have a life of its own but it can do what I want when I create without having to control its every move.''

''It sounds interesting,'' Sakura muttered, following Kagome as she left the library and walked through the halls.

''It is, Kaede had this ability mastered, she could create a thousand spheres and give them something different to do at the same time, I learned it with her.'' The miko said as she yawned. ''They are a physical manifestation of my reiki, you can touch it and grab it if you want. The one Rin was playing with had the task of testing how far away it could go from me, it disappeared because of that.''

''Can you create one to play with the children? Do they burn youkai?'' Sakura asked, genuinely curious.

''Yes and yes, but they will only burn those who do not have a part of my reiki with them. It wouldn't burn you or Shippo, it would simply tingle because of the charm you both have.'' Kagome said, opening the door of the dining room and smiling when Rin and Shippo shouted her name.

''Kagome-chan! Shippo won't believe me when I say that you created a small pink ball!" Rin said as she pointed at the little fox, who stuck her tongue at her.

''Mama would've shown it to me if she could do it, you're trying to prank me!" The kit spoke, making Kagome laugh as she sat between the children and patted their heads.

''Don't be mean Shippo. If you two eat everything, I'll do something very interesting.'' She smirked when saw Rin pouting. ''And before you ask, yes, you do have to eat your vegetables.''

Both children groaned, making Sakura giggle. ''They keep you healthy and also protect you! Haven't you heard of the tale of Midori, the human whose love for nature was so great that she became one with the Earth and turned into the first Earth Elemental?''

''Really?'' Rin's eyes widened when she heard this, making Kagome give her a knowing smile.

''Yes! She loved everything related to nature and always thanked the earth for every single thing she took from it, and one day, while she was walking to take a bath in the lake close to her home, she was visited by Amaterasu!" Sakura said, and as she moved her hands, a green flame came to life and started to illustrate everything that she spoke, catching even Kagome's attention. ''The Kami told her to go back to that same lake in the night of the new moon, saying that she had achieved something no other human had.''

''What happened with her?" Shippo asked, his eye sparkling with curiosity as he slowly ate the rice.

''It took a while for the new moon appear, and in the meantime, Midori did what she had always done. She ate everything the earth gave to her, including vegetables, watered the flowers next to her house and took care of the little hurt animals she found in the woods.'' Sakura spoke, making Kagome stifle a laugh when she saw Rin pressing her lips together and glaring at the broccoli on her plate.

''When the night arrived, Midori left her house and went to the lake, but as she was arriving there, something happened!" The flames in Sakura's hand now shone brightly as images of several warriors appeared and attacked the young woman, making Rin and Shippo gasp. ''A dozen warriors circled her, claiming that she had given her life to a demon, they burned her house down before coming for her and without waiting for an explanation, they attacked!''

The flame now showed the woman opening her mouth to scream, and Rin's eyes widened in fear.

''She thought she would die, but not everything was lost. When the first sword was about to pierce her flesh, a bright light appeared and embraced her, blinding the humans for a brief moment. When their eyes opened, it wasn't the human Midori that stood in front of them, but a daiyoukai with bright green eyes and dress made of petals of different flowers!" Sakura said, smiling when she saw Shippo eating the carrot he had been glaring at initially without even noticing.

''The humans trembled in the presence of the unknown woman, but they were not fazed by her! They tried to attack, but found out that the roots of the trees tied them down, and the youkai with eyes that seemed as green as the leaves around her simply shook her head and disappeared into the trees, fading into the realm of the Kami.'' Sakura finished the story as her youki faded away and Shippo pouted, making Kagome giggle.

''What happened next? Is she still alive?'' Rin asked, eating the last bit of broccoli from her plate and making Sesshoumaru, that stayed silent during the whole time, smirk faintly.

''This is a tale for another day, have you both finished your meal?'' The green eyed youkai said as she finally started eating, giggling when both children pouted.

''Will you tell us the rest later?'' Shippo asked, and smiled brightly when the youkai nodded.

''Kagome-chan, I ate everything!" Rin said as she looked at the miko with hopeful eyes.

Kagome, who had just started eating too because she had been too caught up in Sakura's tale to pay the proper attention to her food, smirked at the little girl.

''I see, you both have been good today, so I'm going to show you a magic trick!" Kagome said, making both children look at her with wide eyes and Sesshoumaru raise a single eyebrow.

Taking a deep breath, Kagome closed her eyes and formed a bright sphere of reiki in her mind. When she thought that it looked acceptable, she pushed her will into the light, and as she opened her eyes, a pink ball was bouncing right next to Rin as the girl clapped her hands happily.

As soon as the sphere caught Shippo's attention, it dashed across the room and both children ran to catch it, but it kept bouncing from a place to another and eventually, it left the room. Kagome giggled when she heard the children's squeals and laughs, and raised her head to meet a pair of curious golden eyes.

''Are you controlling it?'' The daiyoukai asked as he took a sip of his sake and Kagome shook her head.

''No, I gave it an order and it's simply following it.'' She answered, taking a bite of her chicken, and was pleased to see that Sesshoumaru was eating too. ''I think that's the first time I see you here, it's usually just me and the kids.''

''What order did you give?'' Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the miko.

''Entertain,'' Kagome said and both women giggled. ''They won't be bored for a good while.''

''This Sesshoumaru eats regularly miko, you simply do not see it.'' The daiyoukai answered with a small shrug, and Kagome stuck her tongue at him.

Sakura stifled a laugh as Sesshoumaru stopped raising the hashi to his mouth to stare at the miko with a raised eyebrow, and the girl simply raised her eyebrow in return.

''It seems that the more time passes by, the less sane the miko stays,'' Sesshoumaru commented as he finished his meal and Kagome gaped as she looked at him.

''You-You made a joke!" She said as she pointed her finger at him, and this time, Sakura couldn't hold back her laugh.

''It was an observation.'' Sesshoumaru dryly answered and Kagome narrowed her eyes at him.

Deciding against verbally assaulting the daiyoukai, Kagome pouted as she munched her food and muttered. ''Baka.''

''Are you cursing yourself now, miko? Have you truly lost your sanity?'' Sesshoumaru said, and Kagome did not miss the mischievous spark in his eyes.

''Why you-'' She growled, doing an almost perfect imitation of InuYasha in Sesshoumaru's opinion, but decided to not say anything. ''The only reason why I'm not purifying you right now is because I need your help with something.''

''And what would that be?'' The daiyoukai asked, looking genuinely curious.

''A spell.'' It was the only answer the miko gave him, and the inu found himself wanting her to finish her food already so that she would tell him what she meant by spell.

Deciding to ignore the daiyoukai because he was being mean to her, Kagome turned to face Sakura.

''Did Midori really exist or you invented the story to make Rin and Shippo eat their vegetables?'' She asked, making the green eyed elemental laugh.

''It really happened, she was the first of my kind and we all are her descendants,'' Sakura spoke, giggling at the amazed expression Kagome had on her face. ''She still lives, though she does not leave her lands anymore and many think she either died or never existed. The part about eating the vegetables was obviously made up, though.''

Laughing, the miko spoke. ''Have you met her? This is amazing, she met a Kami and was blessed by them!"

''I have, all the Earth Elementals are taken to her after they are born in order to gain her blessings. She is almost like a Kami to us, I don't think age will ever catch up with her, the last time I saw her was a hundred years ago and she seemed younger than ever.'' The youkai spoke, watching Kagome look at her in pure awe.

''Wow, this is- I don't even know what to say!" The miko breathed out, then asked, curious. ''Are there other elementals? Can they mate if they belong to different kinds?''

''Yes, there are Fire, Water, and Wind Elementals too. They can mate, their children sometimes will turn to have an entirely different power, as it happened when a Wind and a Water Elemental mated. Their children were the first of the Thunder Elementals, nowadays there is an amazing variety of our kind, we have lost count already.'' Sakura said, Kagome nodded and asked more questions.

Her food was now forgotten as she interrogated Sakura to know every single thing about her kind, and Sesshoumaru sighed when he saw himself forced to wait to discover what the miko meant by needing his help with a spell. It wasn't entirely annoying, though, he realized that he liked to see the different expressions the miko made every time Sakura said something that sparked her curiosity, and his beast was pleased that the members of his pack were happy.

While he watched the miko laugh as the green eyed youkai told her a tale about the creation of the Fire Elementals, Sesshoumaru decided that in fact, waiting wasn't that bad at all.


End file.
